


Ninja Day Care

by SilverKitsune2017



Category: Naruto
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Good for some laughs, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Puppy Love, Rating May Change, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Yaoi, not meant to be taken seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-03 08:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 64,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune2017/pseuds/SilverKitsune2017
Summary: "I can't believe this." Tsunade sighs as she looks down at the disturbingly adorable children in shock. "They're children again!" Thanks to a strange new Jutsu the Rookie Nine, Sai, Sand Siblings, Taka, and most of the Akatsuki were now children again. And that meant until they could get some answers out of the "attacker," the Academy now had to act as a Ninja Day Care! Crackfic





	1. I Can't Believe This

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is probably going to be different from my other stories. There's going to be a lot of fluff/crack and there will be a lot of 'puppy love.' Anything beyond puppy love won't happen until they change back to their real ages though. This is also one of my newer works. So hopefully, it should be at least somewhat more polished than the older ones. If any of that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. For those of you still here, I hope you enjoy the story.
> 
> Chapter Notation: This chapter will be framed mostly or exclusively Tsunade's POV. Other characters will get chapters or POV scenes later on. Oh there will be straight and yaoi pairings. Yaoi means a romantic relationship between males. So I wanted everyone to be aware of that going in.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my fanfics.

"I can't believe this." Tsunade sighs dramatically as she looks down at the disturbingly adorable children in shock. "God help us all. They're all children again!"

The day had started so perfectly. It was like something out of a dream and now, it was turning into a nightmare. This couldn't be happening!

Kakashi chuckles. "It's not that bad." The CopyCat Ninja places a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "They seem to be all around five years old. How much damage can they possibly do?"

Tsunade tries her best not to gape at Kakashi. He had to be out of his mind. Five year olds or not, these were still some of the most powerful ninjas who had ever lived.

That wasn't all though. Judging by the fact that Sasuke and Naruto had been play fighting only a few moments ago, they were all going to be a handful. Tsunade could only pray that they would get them all back to their true ages and soon.

"We don't know what, if any of their abilities they can still use." She sighs again and feels the urge to acquire some rather strong sake. "And what about their memories?"

That information seemed to do the trick. Kakashi's eyes widen and he looks at the children in panic. Fortunately, they were all inside the Academy for the moment. So that should contain the worst of their problems.

Kakashi rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Well I suppose we should take a headcount. Ibiki is questioning the attacker, right?" Clearly, he was trying to look on the bright side of things.

Tsunade just couldn't see a bright side from this angle! Some of the most powerful ninjas in the world were now all five years old again! Well except for the Akatsuki. They seemed to range from about five to eight. Still she wasn't going to underestimate an Akatsuki Member at any age and this entire situation was a recipe for disaster!

"I've already taken a headcount." Kurenai says as she walks over with a list. "It seems we have quite a lot of children here."

The busty blonde thanks her and takes the list. What she saw made her eyes widen. The Rookie Nine, the Sand Siblings, and most of the Akatsuki. Well minus Sasori. He was dead. Oh and Sai as well.

There was one problem that immediately jumped out in her mind. "Do they have their adult memories?" Well maybe calling the Rookies adults was a bit of a stretch, but honestly they were ninjas. By sixteen or seventeen years old, you were definitely an adult in her view.

"The Power of Youth is very cute today!" Guy grins fantastically at her he strikes a heroic pose, causing Tsunade to groan.

Guy was a good man. He was a loyal member of the Leaf and a formidable ninja, but he was more than a little eccentric. Right now, she needed everyone to take this seriously!

She shakes her head. "Yes, Guy. They're all cute, but we need to know whether or not they have their memories."

The enthusiastic ninja shakes his head back at her. "Well I took the liberty of talking to Lee and the Uchiha Brothers for obvious reasons." Obviously. They couldn't have a mini Sasuke and Itachi trying to kill each other. "Lee doesn't remember anything and neither do they. Well nothing past the age that they were turned into, anyway." He smiles at her reassuringly.

The Hokage blinks and looks at Kakashi. "How old was Sasuke when **it** happened?" She didn't think that elaboration was necessary on this point.

It obviously referred to the Massacre. Sasuke looked young. Maybe, the Massacre simply hadn't happened yet. Well at least not in his mind.

"He was seven. Probably close to eight." Kakashi nods as if positive of this. "If he doesn't have any memories after the age of…" He glances over towards his pupil, "five…then we should be okay. As far as Sasuke is concerned, Itachi is still his beloved older brother at this point."

Well that was a relief. That still didn't solve their long-term problem. They had to find a way to get everyone back to their proper ages and then, they could punish the Akatsuki for their crimes.

She nods approvingly. "Good." That's when a young Choji toddles over to her and looks up at her with hopeful eyes.

Damn. They were cute brats. "Do we have any food?" He smiles at her cutely. "I'm hungry." She had to give them that much.

Though that was a good point. They were definitely going to need some food. This many children were bound to get hungry at some point.

"I'll go ask Iruka." She assures him as she heads off, leaving the other Instructors to deal with the children for the moment.

* * *

A few minutes later, she finds Iruka and well he looked frustrated to put it mildly. The Sand Siblings were now in a rather large looking sand castle and she could see that they were all chowing down on sweets. Though Gaara looked mildly terrified.

"Lady Tsunade!" Iruka sighs in relief. "Thank goodness! You're here! I don't know what to do with them! I can't break through his sand and I want to put them with the other children."

Oh boy. This was going to be an issue. At this age, the Sand Siblings probably didn't know anything about the Leaf. They might actually think that they had been kidnapped or something. It was only natural that Gaara would want to protect himself and his siblings.

Luckily, this seemed to be before he had completely lost control of the demon. They could work with this. She sighs and walks over to them.

"It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." The blonde woman smiles at them.

Kankuro peeks his head out hesitantly and then sends out a rather basic looking puppet. Clearly, he intended to have it do the talking without them having to leave the castle. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Yeah! Where are we?!" Temari apparently was going to contribute to the conversation as well.

"I'm Lady Tsunade. I'm the Hokage. You've all been hit with a Jutsu, but we're going to try to fix you." There. That should be simple enough for small children to understand.

She might not be the world's authority on dealing with children, but Tsunade could tell when a child was skeptical. These three were very skeptical. They had every right to be.

Gaara gazes at her with piercing aqua eyes, even at that age…he had feral black markings at them. "Hokage means that you're from the Leaf." He had apparently fought with the demon and struggled with it for quite some time, even at this age. That knowledge was utterly heartbreaking.

Though she couldn't help, but feel impressed at his knowledge of politics this early on. Perhaps, he had truly been born to lead. One day, he would grow up to be Kazekage, after all. Just like his father before him.

There might actually be something to the phrase, "It's in their blood." Gaara's father was Kazekage and now he was. And Naruto would one day be Hokage as well. Just as his own father had been. Tsunade's grandfather was the first Hokage. Yes, there did appear to be something almost hereditary about the position now that she thought about it.

"Yes, that's right." She nods and the Sand Siblings look at each other in horror.

"The Leaf is bad news!" Temari pulls out her fan.

Just then the sand, puppet, and a strong gust of wind come at Tsunade. Of course, these "mini attacks" wouldn't phrase someone like her, but she didn't want to have to actually fight them.

Suddenly, she hears a loud yawn and sees some shadows get caught. "What a drag!" Shikamaru yawns again. "I just came out here to get some food for Choji and these weirdoes are attacking you for no reason!"

"HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRD?!" Kankuro demands, but he couldn't move.

Shikamaru yawns. "I called you weird. Because you are." He stretches lazily.

* * *

Oh boy. Tsunade sighs and gestures for Iruka to help her carry them off. He nods and takes Temari while Tsunade was left to deal with the Sabaku brothers. "Shikamaru, help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge. We'll be back in in a moment."

It was probably safe to leave Shikamaru on his own for a couple minutes. He had always been known as a genius and somewhat lazy, after all. Most likely, he was the one least likely to cause trouble. Well other than maybe, Hinata.

"Where are our parents?" Tsunade hears Sakura ask Kurenai and Tsunade frowns.

That was another can of worms. At five, most of these children had parents. Some of them, loved their parents dearly. What on Earth was she going to tell them?

Fortunately, Kurenai stepped in to save the day. "They're all on vacation and they said you should enjoy lots of playtime here until they come back." She smiles as the pink haired girl reassuringly.

Well it was as good as an excuse as any, Tsunade thinks to herself as she places the boys in the classroom. Gaara was going to be a problem though. His sand acted instinctively. That meant he didn't need to know **how** it worked or to have much chakra control, if any for it to do whatever he willed it to do.

"What's wrong with your face?" Neji stares at Kisame in shock.

Wonderful. Those types of questions were bound to come up a lot now. And the Hyuga Boy was currently "hiding" Hinata behind his back. It seemed he wanted to protect his cousin from Kisame.

Kisame tilts his head to the side. "What do you mean?" He twitches. "What's the matter with **your** face?! Boys aren't supposed to have hair that long!"

"New friend, friend Neji is right though!" Lee bounds over happily. "Your face is blue. Are you sick?"

Oh Dear God, these children were going to be the death of her! How was she supposed to corral them all until Ibiki could wrest answers from the ninja responsible for all this chaos?!

That just causes the Akatsuki Member to twitch more. "No! I'm not sick!" He glares at the other boy. "I was born this way!"

"Really?" Ino tilts her head to the side curiously as she toddles over. "I've never seen someone with blue skin before! I've seen people who are really white or really dark, but never _blue_ skin!"

Kisame wasn't the only exotic member of the Akatsuki though. Akamaru was currently barking at Zetsu. "Akamaru! Be nice! He's a person!" Kiba frowns thoughtfully. "Well at least I think so."

Zetsu glowers at the puppy and other boy. "Of course, I'm a person! That's mean!" He looks at a boy wearing an orange mask helplessly.

Obito nods. "He's right. That was very mean!" He gives Kiba a dirty look. "Don't make me Fireball Jutsu you!"

Tsunade vaguely recognized that voice. Was that Obito Uchiha? One of Minato's students, but he was supposed to be dead?!

"Can you really use the Fireball Jutsu?" Itachi wanders over with Sasuke ever by his side. "That takes a lot of chakra."

Sasuke nods his head enthusiastically. "Yeah! And it's from our Clan!" He blinks at Obito and looks him up and down curiously. "Well you kinda look like us." He seemed to be contemplating whether or not the other boy was related to him.

Naruto wasn't too happy about having his play fight with Sasuke disturbed though. He races over. "Hey! We were in the middle of fighting!" He glares at Sasuke. "You can't just run away like that! You scaredy-cat!"

Hinata looks at Naruto nervously. The poor girl was probably worried that the blonde would actually get hurt. She really was such a sweet little thing.

She looked positively terrified. "N-Naruto! Don't get into fights!" Though at least she was rational. "You could get hurt and so c-could someone else!"

Just then a beautiful butterfly flies by and Shino points at it. Obviously, the insect lover had somehow found it. He seemed to be giving Tenten a lesson about insects.

"First, they have to be caterpillars and then they turn into butterflies." He smiles.

Tenten nods as she stares at it. "It's really pretty!" She beams in delight as the butterfly flies around and then Akamaru starts barking at it.

"AKAMARU! DOWN! DON'T CHASE THE BUTTERFLY!" Tsunade tries to advert a disaster. Damn. She was probably going to have to get some doggie biscuits or something. "Down, boy! Down!"

Naruto frowns at Hinata. He was in the middle of trying to explain why everything was okay when Guy scoops him up and puts him on the opposite side of the classroom as Sasuke. It was probably safer for everyone, if those two didn't mix.

"Hey! Bushy Brows!" Naruto pouts. "I was talking to the jerk! I was fighting him because he's a jerk!"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Whatever. You're a loser!" He smiles at Obito. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Obito Uchiha!" He nods proudly at this and puffs out his chest a bit.

Definitely, Obito Uchiha then. Hmm. So he had survived somehow and joined the Akatsuki. Tsunade glances at Kakashi worriedly.

Kakashi's eyes widen at the name. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. Which to be fair, he kinda had.

"I can't believe it." The silver haired man stares at the five year old in shock.

Kurenai sighs and pats Kakashi's shoulder comfortingly. Well at least he had the Genjutsu Mistress to steady him, if he fainted. Unfortunately, Tsunade had bigger problems to worry about.

Like Deidara and Hidan. "ART IS AN EXPLOSION!" The blonde was currently hurling paint at the walls and Hidan wasn't helping matters.

"Yeah!" He grins widely as he begins to utter out a series of positively delighted curses and Tsunade winces as most of the other children suddenly looked traumatized.

Iruka had heads over and drags Hidan off by the cuff of his ear. Obviously, the Chunin wasn't going to allow that sort of behavior in his classroom. Well that was one problem down.

Konan seemed to be taking a more measure approached to all this though. The blue haired girl was definitely sticking close to Nagato. Now, Tsunade recognized him. Those two were two of the war orphans that they had rescued all those years ago!

"Should we try to escape?" She glances at her friend.

Most likely, the girl thought that Tsunade couldn't overhear her. She could though.

Her friend shakes his head. "No. I don't think so." He smiles at her. "After all, it looks like they have food and we might be safe from the war here."

Wonderful. She had two _war orphans_ in her care. She was probably going to have to separate Konan and Nagato from the other children. They'd probably unintentionally terrify them with stories about the war.

"Yay! I found some moneys!" Kakuzu waves around Iruka's pouch.

"That's awesome! Yeah?!" Deidara forgets about his art of a minute and scurries over to Kakuzu.

Well at least Sai was acting normally. Well at least normally for him. He was just sketching in a coloring book. Tsunade sighs.

She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. That damn ninja had caused so many problems with his Jutsu!

* * *

_The Leaf had been working on formalizing an alliance with the Sand for the war. That was why the Sand Siblings were there. Unfortunately, it seemed the Akatsuki had found out._

_"Alright! Let's get the Nine Tails!" Kisame cried out in delight._

_They had attacked at first light when everyone had been asleep or barely awake. That would have been bad enough, but it seemed that someone had decided to take further advantage of the situation._

_"BEHOLD! MY FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH JUTSU!" Honestly, Tsunade didn't even recognize the man._

_Judging by his headband though, he was a ninja from one of the lesser known ninja villages. And he had made a new Jutsu. Wonderful._

_"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Thankfully, the Senseis had all been in her office when it happened. "There's no telling what that Jutsu might be capable of!" Tsunade had been intending to brief them on situation, but then this happened._

_She waited for several minutes. After awhile, things were disturbingly quiet. The blonde had expected the sounds of a heated battle to be heard. After all, the Akatsuki had been trying to kidnap Naruto. Instead, she heard only the confused sounds of young children?_

_A small scuffle ensued and soon enough, Kakashi and Guy had managed to restrian the Fountain of Youth Jutsu User. "It seems that he transformed them all into children. Most likely, he would have done it to all of us." Kakashi paused. "I think that it was his plan to take over the Leaf."_

_Tsunade blinked. Well that was most certainly a new one. She had never heard of such a thing before._

* * *

And thus, that was how they had ended up here. It hadn't taken too long to get all the children in the Academy. Now, she had to figure out what they were going to do with them.

She couldn't really punish the Akatsuki for crimes that they hadn't committed yet. Well at least they hadn't committed them in their minds. Though now that she thought about it, it would probably be best to keep the Akatsuki away from Gaara. This was especially the case when it came to Deidara.

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino beams at her.

"What is it?" The pink haired girl looks at her in confusion as she walks over to her friend.

The blonde girl gestures towards a rather large play house. Tsunade sighs. Well she supposed it was just as well. They had find some way to keep this army of children from destroying the village.

Letting them wear themselves out with toys, well that might work. It wasn't like she had a better idea. There was no reason not to let them have their fun.

Guy smiles. "Well that's cute." He smiles at the sight of the girls trying to play house.

It was cute, but that wasn't their main concern at the moment. Tsunade could only hope that Ibiki would be able to get answers out of the mysterious stranger.

She was the Hokage. Tsunade was not a babysitter! She didn't have the faintest idea how she was supposed to manage all these children!

Iruka sighs. "Yes, it is. But I think that we can all agree that this isn't natural." Iruka did though.

Tsunade smirks. Ah. She had a wonderful plan now! She could just let the Chunin handle most of this while she continued about her normal Kage Duties!

Iruka blinks. "My Lady?" Well perhaps she shouldn't have smirked. It was likely that she had frightened the poor man. Still, she couldn't help it. "Is something wrong?" The busty blonde now had a plan. "Why are you looking at me in that way?"

Kakashi chuckles. "It's rather obvious." He smiles at Iruka. "You're a teacher. You have the most experience with dealing with small children out of any of us." Yes. Exactly!

The Academy instructor looks at the silver haired man as if he had grown another head. Tsunade knew what he was thinking. He was likely thinking that they couldn't possibly be serious.

"Well yes. I have the most experience with small children." Iruka was trying to back out. "But some of these children are really dangerous S Class Criminal Ninjas." That was true. "And I don't have as much experience with those types of people." Also true.

Tsuand almost felt guilty for what she was about to do. Really, it wasn't fair to expect Iruka to handle this, but he would have help. So that was something. Right?

Kurenai smiles at him. "Don't worry. I'm sure that you can handle it and we'll be right here to help you." Thankfully, the children were far too busy playing to be paying much attention to their conversation.

"Well it seems as though I am outnumbered." Iruka sighs heavily. "Alright. I shall take the lead in this mission." He pauses. "I just really hope that they're all turned back soon."

Tsunade nods in agreement. There was a very good chance that if they didn't, the Leaf could be destroyed by their temper tantrums. She really hoped that Gaara was the only one who was at full power at the moment.

Because if that wasn't the case, they were all in trouble. Big trouble. Tsunade wasn't really sure how they would handle it, if the children started using their signature attack moves.

She sighs. "I certainly hope that is the case as well." She looks at all of them. "I'll go and get us some sake."

Iruka gives her a disapproving look, but Tsunade just rolls her eyes. Now, was not the time to be prim and proper. Now, was the time to prepare for war. Because make no mistake about it, that's what this was.

A war to keep the mini army of children from taking over the Leaf. That or destroying it through a temper tantrum. There was no way that she was going into this unprepared.

"I'll get you some water, Iruka." She tsks as she heads off and leaves her colleagues to prepare for the upcoming war in the best ways they knew how. "Come on, Ibiki. Put those interrogation skills to use." She mutters under her breath as she braces herself for the chaos that was likely going to erupt very soon.


	2. 28 Brats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka joins the rest of the children, bringing the Ninja Academy's total number of 'students' to 28.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Chapter Notation: I'm bringing Taka in. This chapter will be told mostly from Suigetsu's perspective because I think he's a hilarious character who doesn't get enough screen time. As the story progresses, more characters will get to narrate different scenes and chapters. Happy reading.

Suigetsu looks around in confusion. He knew that he was supposed to be doing something important, but he just couldn't remember what. This causes the five year old to sulk.

The sword lover didn't remember it, but Taka had come to the Leaf in search of Itachi. Itachi and the rest of the remaining members of the Akatsuki had been after Naruto. The Akatsuki were going to take advantage of everyone gathering together and planning for a potential war and strike when the Leaf least expected it.

"Karin, where are we?" He glances at the red head with glasses.

She had said her name was Karin earlier. He didn't really like her. She was sooo bossy, but she was also really smart. And they kinda needed a smart person, right now.

The small red headed girl looks around seriously and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Hmm. We seem to be in a sweets shop!" She smiles.

Sweet Shops? That was **awesome**! "Alright. So I guess we should get some food and wait for my brother to find us!" He grins.

Suigetsu had absolute faith that his brother would find him. Mangetsu always did. Hmm. Now some of those sweets looked pretty good, particularly the lollipops.

Jugo looks around and finds a large bag. "We should just fill this and head off." That was a good point. It probably wasn't a good idea to just hang around in the shop, even if Suigetsu had no idea how they got there in the first place.

The white haired boy didn't even notice when the candy shop owner ran out of there screaming. He ran all the way to the Hokage's Office.

* * *

"Lady Tsunade! It's Taka!" The middle aged man couldn't believe this. "They're in my shop, but they're children?" He bites his lower lip nervously. "I swear that I'm not making this up!"

Tsunade groans and looks at Kakashi. "Can you go and get them?" After all, they were only five.

Kakashi nods and Flickers off to the shop. He and Tsunade had been inside her office while Guy, Kurenai, and Iruka watched over the children. The two of them had been trying to come up with a plan to deal with this strange situation, but they had nothing particularly concrete yet.

So naturally, that meant they were going to add Taka to the mix. As if the Rookie Nine, the Sand Siblings, all of Team Seven minus Yamato, and the Akatsuki weren't enough! Now, Sasuke's second team was going to enter the Ninja Day Care?!

"This is ridiculous, even by my standards." The CopyCat Ninja sighs. He was barely thirty and he was already far too old for strange situations like this! "Well they're only children." It shouldn't be that hard, right?

* * *

He probably shouldn't have said that. It took him two hours to drag the three little demons back to the Academy. Two hours to deal with three children. Ridiculous!

Kakashi had thought teaching twelve year olds had been a handful, but now he had a newfound respectful for Iruka. Five year olds, well six in Jugo's case, were crazy!

"Lady Tsunade, I've found Taka where should I put them?" The silver haired man looks at her expectantly.

Tsunade sighs as she takes another sip of her sake. "Put them in the same room with the rest of them." Kakashi was starting think that he should follow the Hokage's example in this regard because this children were going to be the death of him.

He nods understanding though and quickly takes them to the classroom. What he saw inside it blew his mind. Oh Dear God! Why could nothing ever be easy in this village?!

Suigetsu grumbles and glares up at Kakashi as soon as he was set down. He didn't particularly like getting carted out of the Sweet Shop and the bastard had stolen his sword! His sword! That was just wrong!

Why did adults do that stuff?! They threw a fit whenever someone stole their stuff, but it was okay for them to take whatever they wanted off of children. Didn't make any sense!

"I guess we're in school now." Jugo tilts his head to the side in confusion.

What?! School?! No way! That wasn't any fun! Nu uh!

"H-Hi!" A blue haired girl ambles over to him and Suigetsu blinks.

He'd never seen eyes like that before. They were pretty but he was wondering, if she was blind. Well at least that was until a second kid with the same eyes walks over.

Oh great. He was probably her guard dog or something. Whatever. Not like Suigetsu cared. He just wanted some answers damn it.

"Who are you guys?" The long haired boy demands.

He really wished that he still had his sword with him. Then he'd show this guy who was boss! Besides, who had hair that long anyway?!

Jugo smiles. "I'm Jugo. This is Karin and that's Suigetsu." He pauses for a moment. "For some reason, the silver haired man calls us Taka a lot."

That draws the attention of a pink haired girl and blonde who had entirely too much makeup on their faces. Lots of red lipstick was smeared almost anywhere, but their lips and way too much blue eyeshadow.

"Why would they call you Taka?" Ino looks at them curiously.

Bubblegum Hair nods. "Yeah. That doesn't make any sense. I don't see a hawk on any of you. Taka means hawk." The girl apparently was a bookworm or something. He really didn't like those kinds of people. They were so boring!

He looks around the room some more and notices that a lot of people were wearing black capes with red clouds. Hmm. Must be some kind of club or something. The cap people seemed to be gathering together with the exception of one dark haired boy with crimson red eyes.

Karin shrugs. "I don't know." Neither did Suigetsu.

Just then a ruby eyed woman swoops in and scoops up the Makeup Twins. "Ino, Sakura, you shouldn't put that much on. Come on." She smiles at them kindly. "Let's go get you cleaned up." And with that, the Genjutsu Mistress carries them off.

That was weird. Speaking of weird, what was with the three dark haired boys huddling in the corner together. They all kinda looked alike and there was a really loud blonde, trying to pick a fight with the smallest one.

"Loser, leave me alone." Sasuke rolls his eyes at Naruto.

"Who are you calling a loser?!" He puffs up angrily.

Suigetsu smirks. A fight might be interesting. Well it was certainly far more interesting than makeup anyway.

The youngest Uchiha clearly wasn't intimidated though. "I called you a loser, Loser." He turns his back on Naruto and starts talking with the other Uchihas.

That didn't work so well for him though. The blonde tackles him from behind and the two boys are suddenly rolling around. Well until some stand pulls them away from each other and ties up their hands.

"Stop fighting!" Suigetsu blinks as he sees a tiny red head just stop them like it was nothing.

The boy in question was building a castle out of sand at the same time. It looked like he was going to hide behind it with a blonde girl and a boy who was wearing a lot of makeup. Seriously, what was it with this place and makeup?!

"Wait. So you've got mouths on your hands?" A blue skinned boy asks a blonde on the other side of the room.

A mouth on his hands?! Blue skin?! This place was so weird, but maybe kinda cool! That big blue one looked like he was half shark or something!

Karin places her hand on his shoulder. "Don't even think about it." Was she trying to boss him around?!

"You aren't my mother!" Suigetsu glares at her as he scampers off towards Deidara and Kisame.

The adults were talking about them, but he wasn't paying much attention. Still, he did hear bits and pieces. And what he heard was mostly worried sounding adults.

"Are you sure that we should be bringing more of them in?" Iruka glances at Tsuande as the busty Hokage walks back into the main classroom with all the transformed children.

She shakes her head. "Not really, but we can hardly let them wander the streets." Suigetsu didn't see why. That would be fun!

He sees that some orange haired boy and blue haired chick were inside a large playhouse. They seemed to be sticking to themselves. Whatever. If they wanted to make kissy kissy faces, Suigetsu didn't care.

"It'd probably be best just to stay here." He overhears the blue haired girl say.

Her boyfriend nods. "Yeah. We can just use this as our safe spot." Safe spot? What the heck were they talking about?

Safe from what? Alright. That was mildly concerning. Though he still had to figure out where the heck they were!

Some kid was coming back and swearing up a storm as he bounds over to the blonde and FishFace. "I can't believe they got so mad over me saying that." He rolls his eyes.

"Well you know adults, Hidan." Fishface makes a rather comical face. "They think there are some bad words out there." He smirks. "But I say em anyway."

The blonde girl grins. Oh wait, that was actually a boy. Maybe. Actually, Suigetsu wasn't really sure. "Yeah!" She/her nods his/her head excitedly. "Don't let them tell you what you can't say. They ain't the bossy of you!" Oh wait. The voice was definitely that of a boy. Weird.

"Temari, why are you staring at that lazy kid so much?" Kankuro looks at his sister from his position behind the sand castle that their brother was building.

She rolls her eyes, unaware that Suigetsu was now watching them as well. There was just so much to see and do here. He'd never seen so many kids together in one place before!

The blonde gives him a withering look that scared even Suigetsu. "Because he can use Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Oh.

Suigetsu wasn't sure what Shadow Possession Jutsus were, but they sounded pretty bad ass. Maybe, he should try to make friends with the lazy kid. Though he was playing some weird chess like game. He couldn't remember the name of it. He was pretty sure it started with an S though.

"What should we do now?" Jugo looks at Karin.

The red head sighs and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose again. This was ridiculous. Why where they so much bigger than her face?! (Little did she know that those glasses had been designed for an adult and not a child).

She shrugs. "I don't know. I mean we can't really trust him not to run off." Karin nods. "So I guess that it's just you and me for now."

Suigetsu shakes his head as he turns his attention back to Kisame and apparently, Deidara. "So who are you guys and what is this place?"

"I'm Kisame and that's Deidara." The blue skinned one shrugs. "And we don't' really know. The adults are just keeping us here for some reason and no one really knows why."

Well that wasn't particularly comforting. Neither was the fact that a girl with two buns in her hair was leaning how to throw kunais from a really bushy browed adult. An adult wearing green spandex.

Seriously, Suigetsu didn't know much about fashion. He did know enough to realize that outfit was hideous and wouldn't look good on anyone. Did that man even own a mirror?

"So it's all in the wrist." The Spandex Freak smiles with perfectly white teeth.

Teeth so white that Suigetsu seriously thought he might actually go blind. What made it even worse though was when a Mini Bushy Brows shows up. He shows up and tries to wield kunais.

Yeah. That wasn't going so well for him. Aye aye. It was time for a professional to step in. He quickly says bye to Kisame and Deidara before darting over the training session.

"Choji, where did you get those chips?" A boy wearing glasses looks at a chubby kid who was munching on chips.

Suddenly, Suigetsu's own stomach rumbled. Damn. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten anything. Oh well. That could wait until after he showed them how to throw a kunai properly.

He liked swords better than kunais, but he was still awesome with them. Then again, he was pretty good at most stuff! Well other than book stuff!

He smiles at them. "Let me try!"

Tsunade groans. "GUY, WE ARE NOT GIVING THESE CHILDREN KUNAIS!" What? Why not?!

Kakuzu smiles as he pets a big white puppy. "I didn't know were allowed to have pets here." He looks at Kiba.

Kiba shrugs. "Well this is my buddy, Akamaru. Where I go, he goes." He grins at his canine companion. "Ain't that right, Akamaru?"

"ARF!" The dog's tail wags. "ARF!" Suigetsu supposed that was puppyese for yes or something like that.

* * *

Meanwhile Ibiki sighs as he continues the mind probe. This ninja might not be particularly strong, but he was strong-willed. Most likely because he didn't want to give away the trademark secret to his new Jutsu.

"You know, you can make things a lot easier on yourself, if you just talk now." Ibiki certainly didn't mind torturing to get information out of someone. "There's no reason that you have to suffer when you have the means at your fingertips to end your torment." It was far from ideal though.

Saiden narrows his eyes at Ibiki. He was never going to talk. This was his life's work and he wasn't going to hand it over that easily.

Orochimaru might be gone, but his goal would live on. The quest for world domination and immortality. The Fountain of Youth Jutsu was a prototype really.

He spits at the middle aged ninja. "Never! You might as well kill me now." Saiden would never betray his former master in such a fashion. He would never betray himself in such a fashion. "I'm not going to tell you anything!"

Ibiki sighs. This one was going to be difficult. Unfortunately, he had expected this. That was fine though.

He was more than capable of playing rough. After all, there was a reason why he was considered the Leaf's best interrogator and wasn't just because of his good look, he thinks to himself wryly.

"Very well." The Intelligence Ninja pauses for a moment. "Remember, I gave you a chance and you refused it." And now, the real world would begin.

The type of work that would make even the most experienced ninja flinch. There were few ninjas who were truly cut out for this line of work and Ibiki was one of them. Now, he just needed to get the answers that Lady Tsunade was so desperately seeking before something terrible happened!

* * *

Elsewhere Tsunade had managed to take away the kunais from Guy and Suigetsu was left to find other forms of entertainment. Which he found in the form of a guy named Sai.

"What are you doing?" He looks at the other kid curiously.

This kid was weird. He had skin that was super pale and the darkest hair that Suigetsu had ever seen. He also looked like he was one meal away from starvation. Poor guy.

Sai looks up and smiles at him. "I'm drawing." That smile was very, very creepy. It was so fake. "I saw this man before everything got all strange." The other boy smiles again. "So I thought it might be important to remember what he looked like."

Alright. Strange or not, the kid had a point there. That and Suigetsu was bored. He didn't really have anything better to do at the moment, so why not look at the picture? Yeah! That's what he thought!

The man was tall. Probably about six feet. A bit of a lithe though somehow still muscular build. The white parts of his eyes were black as night and the Iris practically glow a neon golden color. It was hypnotic.

"Whoever this guy is, he's definitely not normal." The sword lover nods confidently as he continues looking at the picture.

There was a strange spiral black mark on his left cheek that for some reason, felt so familiar to Suigetsu. He couldn't identify it though and that was very, very frustrating!

The weirdest part about this guy besides his eyes though was his hair. It came to his chin. The top of it was raven black, but the bottom half was emerald green. Was that a dye job or something?

Sai nods in agreement. "You're right." Though Suigetsu knew that it was a little weird to be talking about what was normal and what wasn't with a guy that smiled like that.

Whatever. It was obviously the principle of the thing. They needed to figure out what was going on and fast. Something about this entire situation just didn't sit right with him.

"Lady Tsuande, what are we going to do about all this?" Iruka glances at the busty woman.

She sighs. "Honestly, I don't know. I do know that we should try to separate them into groups though." Groups? Separate?! Suigetsu didn't know, if he liked the sound of that!

Who was he going to be put with?! Hopefully, the cool people! It would suck a lot to be put with the not cool kids! Like Bug Boy and Mini Spandex Freak!

"That might not be a bad idea, but how are we going to do it?" Kakashi looks at her.

Tsunade pauses and Sugietsu listens very carefully. This was important stuff! This was going to determine his future!

"Well let's see. We have the Rookie Nine, Taka, Guy's Team, Sai, the Sand Siblings, and the Akatsui. That brings us up to twenty-eight brats." The busty Hokage sighs. Clearly, that was a lot of children.

Suigetsu makes a face. His head heart. That was a lot of math. He really, really didn't like math!

Kurenai sighs. "Well there's me, Kakashi, Guy, and Iruka. So 28 students so to speak divided by four instructors. That means we'll each take seven" She looks at Tsunade anxiously. "You're Hokage. We can't really expect you to sit around and watch kids all day until this is finished."

Guy nods in agreement. "Well technically, Kurenai is getting eight." He smiles. "She does have Mirai after all." And as if on cue, the little girl toddlers over to her mother for cuddles.

That was adorably and sickeningly sweet. Yuck. The violet eyed child thought he might actually get cavities from the scene, but he was getting distracted here. He had to focus!

"Yes, seven for me." Kurenai smiles.

Iruka sighs. "That still doesn't solve the matter of who we're going to decide on who goes to what "team" so to speak." They were getting teams?!

Cool! That meant that they were real ninjas now, right?! It had to mean that! Real ninjas got teams! Suigetsu knew that much!

Tsunade nods. "Well I think that those who are more mild mannered should go with Iruka obviously."

That made sense. He seemed like kinda the pushover of the group. Well Suigetsu knew now that he wasn't going with the one with the scar on his face. Okay then!

"I appreciate that Lady Tsunade." He sighs. "Some of these children, I just can't handle." He had seen a lot of craziness in his time at the Academy, but this was on a whole other level!

She nods. "The most vicious will be placed with Kakashi." It only made sense. Kakashi was probably the one most likely out of the four of them that might play rough. Well other than the Bushy Browed one! (At least in Suigetsu's mind).

Kakashi chuckles. "Sure. Give me all the tough ones." He shakes his head.

"The Power of Youth is strong! I can take the worst ones instead!" Guy smiles brightly.

Um no. No, thank you. Suigetsu was pretty sure that he would be in that group. He privately dubs it the Awesomest Group! He didn't want to deal with those blindingly white teeth all day long!

Tsuande shakes her head. "You'll take the level two ninjas. The ones who are powerful, but marginally less likely to try to attack you." Ah that makes sense.

Kurenai nods. "So I guess that leaves me with the mostly mellow group and Iruka with the most introverted?" Tsunade nods in confirmation.

That all made sense. Though there was still one very important question on Suigetsu's mind. Who was going to be in which group?!


	3. Teams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara watches with Mr. Squishy as everyone as all the children are sorted into teams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Information: Members are listed in no particular order of importance. This is about aggression level, not always who is stronger. All teams will eventually give themselves a nickname. No team is necessarily better than the others, but obviously readers will probably have a favorite (or favorites).
> 
> Team Awesome (A): This team are the children who are most likely to be aggressive or as is the case for Itachi, the ones you don't want to separate from their foolish little brother.
> 
> 1) Sasuke, 2) Naruto, 3) Gaara 4) Kisame 5) Itachi. 6) Suigetsu 7) Hidan.
> 
> Team Best (B): Children who are at moderate risk of becoming aggressive, but less so than Team A. Deidara is in this group because I figure he'd be pretty easily distracted by art supplies. Sai is in it because of ROOT.
> 
> 1) Deidara. 2) Jugo. 3) Konan 4) Pain 5) Kakuzu 6) Zetsu 7) Sai
> 
> Cool Team: ( C ): Children who are at low risk of aggression, but may potentially get carried away with the typical boisterousness of youth. Obito is here because he's a normal kid at this age.
> 
> 1) Obito. 2) Sakura 3) Kiba 4) Karin 5) Temari 6) Shikamaru 7) Ino. 8) Mirai
> 
> Dream Team (D): This is the group least likely to get aggressive without provocation. The "mellow" ones of the group.
> 
> 1) Hinata, 2 ) Shino 3) Choji 4) Lee, 5 ) Neji 6) Tenten 7) Kankuro.

Gaara watches the adults anxiously from his sand castle. It was a good castle and he was sure that it would protect himself, Temari, and Kankuro from these crazy people. These… **Leaf Villagers**!

He had always heard that Leaf Villagers were strange, but this was ridiculous. When people of the Sand spoke about them at all it was usually about their less than professional demeanor. How they were always so overly personal with each other. How loud they were, but also how powerful.

"What are they doing?" Kankuro looks just as terrified as the red head felt.

Gaara listens closely. "They're dividing us up into teams." He didn't exactly understand the reason why, but that was irrelevant.

They were Sand Villagers and if they wanted to divide them up, they had another thing coming! His brother and sister were scared of him because of the demon, but they shouldn't be separated anyway. Who was going to protect them, if they were?

His sand worked without him always wanting it to, but it always protected him. So by default, Gaara figured that it would do the same for them. After all, even if his siblings were scared of him, they'd at least try to protect him. Right? It was self-preservation in an indirect way!

"Teams?" There was definitely confusion in Temari's voice. "Are we playing some kind of game?"

Hmm. Maybe, it was a game. Though Gaara doubted it. Leaf Villagers definitely didn't play with Sand Villagers. This was all so strange.

"Alright, listen up brats!" Tsunade's voice is soon heard throughout the room and everyone stops dead in their tracks to listen.

It was a loud voice, Gaara decides. One couldn't not listen to it. There was no way to tune out the shrieks of a harpy!

Tsunade nods approvingly, realizing she had everyone's attention. "You're going to be placed into one of four teams." The Hokage pauses. "There are simply too many of you to let you wander wherever. You can still be friends with people from other teams though."

Friends? They were supposed to make friends here? Gaara didn't have any friends. Well except for his uncle.

No matter how hard he tried, people were always scared of him. They usually ran away screaming or shut a door in his face. He didn't like it, but the red head was beginning to accept it was just a fact of life.

"I'm not going anywhere without my foolish little brother!" A dark haired boy gives Tsunade a dirty look.

A smaller dark haired boy smiles. "That's right!" That was until he heard the rest of his brother's declaration, anyway. "Hey! I am NOT foolish!"

Those two were a really strange family, Gaara thinks to himself. The elder brother pokes the younger one's forehead in response. The younger one was about Gaara's age, the red head supposed and now definitely glaring at his brother the "forehead offense." (Leaf Villagers were all really odd)!

"QUIET!" Tsunade's growl was actually terrifying.

All the other kids quickly settle down. Gaara notices that even the most freaky kids looked like they really wanted to tangle with her at the moment and he couldn't blame them!

She sighs. "Wonderful. So the first team will be known as Team A and you will all go with Kakashi." The busty blonde points to a man with silver hair. "He's Kakashi."

"Oh come on!" A boy with a dog protests. "Can't we come up with better names than Team A or Team B or whatever?!"

He apparently had no sense of self-preservation. Leading Gaara to wonder, if he could keep the puppy…after this idiot got himself killed. Because there was no way that he was going to last long with a mouth like that!

Tsunade's left eye twitches. "I'm Tsunade. The Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf and you WILL listen to me." That eye twitch was kinda scary too.

Once again, there was stunned silence. Thank goodness. Some of these other kids could be really loud. Gaara didn't like loud people.

She twitches again. "You may call yourselves whatever you like, but just for our records." Apparently, Tsunade was done addressing the fool. "Anyway, Team A will be comprised of Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan."

Gaara blinks. He was apparently on Team A, but Temari and Kankuro weren't. This had to be some kind of joke.

His sand starts to lash around him in outrage. "KAKASHI, COMMENCE OPERATION TEDDY BEAR!" Tsunade glances at man with the mask on his face.

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Kakashi smiles and walks over to Gaara offering him an adorable snowy white teddy bear. "You're still going to be close to your brother and sister. You don't have to worry. This is just to make it easier to keep track of all of you."

Hearts appear in Gaara's eyes and he huggles the pretty bear to his chest. "Okay." Well if they were giving him toys, they couldn't be that bad and this bear was so soft. Gaara was going to call him Mr. Squishy!

Iruka chuckles. "Well that was surprisingly easy." Gaara looked dare he say it, adorable with his little teddy bear.

The elder brother smiles at his younger one. "Well at least we aren't separated." And the younger one nods in agreement.

Tsunade shakes her head. This woman was a definite professional, it seemed. Nothing was going to stop her.

"Alright. Team B will be lead by Guy." She glances over at a man with busy eyebrows. Suddenly, Gaara was rather glad to be in Team A. He hoped Kankuro and Temari didn't get stuck with the man who wore that outfit. He knew nothing about fashion, but that was an ugly shade of green.

Guy smiles and reads from a list. "Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu **,** Zetsu, and Sai." Gaara blinks at the strange combination, but makes his way over towards Kakashi.

There were so many children. The red had had no idea how the adults had sorted everyone. Part of him wanted to ask, but part of him was also afraid to ask. Maybe Team A was the monster team or something. One of their members looked like a shark!

A beautiful woman with red eyes chuckles. "I'm Kurenai and I'll be leading Team C." She pauses and smiles. "Which will include Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai."

Gaara blinks. There were a lot of girls on that team. Whatever. That wasn't his concern. Girls and boys both hated him. At least, he had Mr. Squishy now though!

Iruka smiles. "And the final team will be lead by me. I'm Iruka." The normal looking instructor pauses and continues his current task. "Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro."

* * *

Meanwhile Saiden was undergoing more and more probing techniques. This man was good. He had to give him that much.

He was never going to talk though. That would be dishonoring Orochimaru's memory and that wasn't something that he was willing to do. No matter how many mind probes the man did.

"You're a stubborn bastard." Ibiki narrows his eyes. "I'll give you that much."

He was stubborn alright and one day, he was going to rule the world. While the Legendary Sannin might no longer be with him, Saiden could at least continue on in his noble work!

He grins at him. "And I could say the same to you." The ninja in question wasn't going to cave this easily.

It was only a matter of time before the Leaf wasn't able to corral them. Saiden wasn't sure, if the children would have the same abilities they had an adult, but he knew Gaara certainly did.

The others were more of a mixed bag. Still, assuming they were all regular children, the Leaf had just lost some of its most powerful ninjas. The Sand was missing its Kazekage and a void had just formed in the criminal world.

"I've never seen someone so happy after being probed that thoroughly before." Ibiki frowns. "You're truly psychotic."

The Akatsuki were certainly at the top of the food chain when it came to the criminal world. Without them, rival groups would start to compete for that slot. One way another, chaos would erupt and when it did, he would find a way to free himself.

To free himself and rule. For that was his destiny. No one could stop destiny! Not even Ibiki!

* * *

Back with the children, Gaara glances around at his new team. It was all boys and two of them were clearly brothers. Though the one that concerned him most was the one who looked like a shark.

"Alright." Kakashi smiles serenely. "I know that this must all be terribly confusing, but we're going to give everyone a name tag. So that should help."

A name tag?! Ninjas didn't wear name tags! Were they all really this stupid that they couldn't remember each other's names? How was this village a threat to the Sand again?

Despite Gaara's protests, name tags are given to each child. He even got one. The red head sighs and snuggles closer to Mr. Squishy. "He should get one too."

Kakashi blinks. "You want your bear to have a name tag?" Yes, Gaara did.

Why not? Everyone else was getting a silly name tag. It would be mean to exclude Mr. Squishy. That much should be obvious!

"Yes, I do." He nods his head.

Mr. Squishy was probably going to be his only friend here. So everyone should at least know his name. Gaara couldn't for the life of him understand why that was so shocking.

Guy chuckles. "Hard to believe he grows up to become the Kazekage." He smiles brightly at Gaara. "He's a cute little thing."

Cute?! Kazekage?! What was that busy browed man talking about?! He wasn't making any sense.

Gaara had been called many things in his life. A demon. A monster. Evil. Soulless. Dangerous, but never cute! Well at least not as long as he could remember. Seriously, who called someone with a demon inside them cute?

He changes his mind. Obviously, the blue skinned one wasn't the biggest threat. Guy was because he was absolutely crazy!

Kakashi sighs. "Guy, let's try not to get ahead of ourselves." He shakes his head. "They aren't ready to hear about such things."

They weren't ready for what? Hmm. Something fishy was going on and Gaara was going to get to the bottom of it and Mr. Squishy was going to help him!

"I guess you're right." Guy grins and Gaara is almost blinded by the immense whiteness of that man's teeth. "I was getting a bit ahead of myself." What kind of sadistic Jutsu was that?!

The blonde bounds over to him. His name tag said, **NARUTO** on it. So Gaara could only surmise that this boy's name was Naruto. Mr. Squishy also thought so.

"Hey! Guess we're on the same team." He grins at Gaara.

Gaara blinks at this strange display. Someone was smiling at him and it wasn't the spandex lover. This was a strange and unusual development!

He nods. "Yes." What more was there to say on the matter. Obviously, they were all on the same team or they wouldn't be standing next to Kakashi.

The blonde seems to find this fascinating. "Cool! Well don't mind the jerk over there! He only is nice to his brother really!" He continues babbling on happily. "Kisame kinda scares me though and I'm not sure about that white haired one." Gaara wasn't either really. "He's pretty twitchy."

"Alright, well I guess we're all together." Hidan states.

If memory served, this was the one who cursed like a sailor and got put in timeout earlier. Once again, Gaara couldn't help, but think that they were supposed to be the monster team. That was really the only logical explanation for all this. Well at least in his mind.

Kisame nods. "Yeah! We need a better name than Team A though." He smirks.

"Hell yeah!" Suigetsu smirks in a way that was eerily similar to Kisame. "And I got an awesome one for us too!"

Itachi raises an eyebrow. It was clear the elder Uchiha Brother was at least somewhat skeptical of their plans to rename the group. Gaara shared his skepticism, honestly.

He shakes his head. "And what name did you come up with?" Itachi looks at Suigetsu.

"We're going to be Team Awesome!" The violet eyed child looks ridiculously proud of himself.

"I think we can live with that." Sasuke smiles.

Naruto blinks and starts flailing in shock. Gaara raises an eyebrow at his behavior. Weird. He had thought that he was the strange one, but the Leaf Village seemed to be filled with strange people!

He stares at Sasuke in shock. "You smiled about something and it wasn't just about Itachi or tomatoes!" Gaara really didn't see what tomatoes had to do with any of this, but whatever.

He glances around and looks at how the other teams were shaping up. Team B was closest. So naturally he looks at them first.

Guy smiles at his team. "So I think that the best way to ensure the village stays in one piece to give you guys things to keep you entertained." It sounded like the Spandex Lover was going to give them toys! Lucky! Though he was perfectly content with his teddy bear for the moment.

He hands Sai and Deidara art supplies. The paint and canvases seemed to make them happy, Gaara notes. Gaara himself was not good at such things. Well at least he didn't think that he was. He'd never really tried before. Hmm.

The red head has his sand "borrow" one of the canvases and some red paint. Maybe, he'd try now.

Guy smiles, completely obvious. "Konan, here's a nice doll for you." He hands her a baby doll and the blue haired girl looks at her instructor as if he had grown another pair of heads or something.

"As for you, Pain, Jugo, and Kakuzu, I got you each some stuffed animals to play with." Jugo gets an elephant. "Enjoy!" Pain hawk. "Welcome to Team B." And Kakuzu a crocodile.

"We're not actually going to call it Team B, are we?" Konan looks at him seriously.

Gaara had to privately admit that the whole Team A, B, C, and D thing was rather unoriginal. He felt a bit curious as to what they'd come up with as he starts panting with wide brushstrokes.

Guy chuckles. "Well what would you prefer to be called?" He strikes a dramatic pose.

"The Best Team!" Deidara smiles. "Because we're the best! Yeah?!"

This prompts some rather dirty looks from the other teams. Uh oh. Gaara could see that this team thing might be a problem later down the line. There were already some village rivalries going on and to add team competitiveness on top of that, well that was just asking for trouble in his view!

The bizarre adult strikes another dramatic pose. "Alright. Then we shall be the Best Team!" He beams. "The Power of Youth is very strong in our team!"

Right. The Bizarre team would have been more accurate in Gaara's mind. .Still, that wasn't going to stop him from continuing his observations. Any good ninja should be aware of their surroundings at all times.

"Onto Team C." Gaara decides. "That one looks relatively normal.

Kurenai smiles at her team. "I'm going to take you all out on a supervised hike." Smart. Probably best to walk the puppy. "As I said before, I'm Kurenai and welcome to Team C."

Shikamaru yawns. "What a drag." It was the lazy one from earlier. The one with the shadows!

The ruby eyed woman frowns at his lackluster response. As she should! It was very rude in Gaara's mind. He was a monster. What was Lazy Bone's excuse?! Hmpf!

"What are you complaining about?" The dog lover looks at him.

Shikamaru shrugs. "Team C is lame compared to Team Awesome and Team Best. We need a better name." He points out.

The group seemed to agree on this. Immediately, lots of shouting emerges from that corner of the room as they debate the matter. Apparently, it was a matter of great importance to them!

"Obviously, our team is the coolest!" The red headed girl smiles. "It'd be even cooler if Sasuke joined us though."

At this, the youngest Uchiha makes a face and promptly hides behind his brother. Not that Gaara blamed him. Sakura, Ino, and Karin had been tryin gto harass him into playing house earlier. (He'd probably hide too)!

"Alright!" Ino smiles. "So we'll be the Cool Team or Team Cool!" She jumps up and down excitedly along with her friend.

The pink haired one and the blonde seemed close. It was important to memorize things like this, Gaara thinks to himself. If he and his siblings had any hope of survival in this strange new land, it was best to learn whatever he could, whenever he can!

The eldest Uchiha was currently playing with Mirai. "Team Cool sounds good." He nods in agreement as the toddler giggle.s

Right. So they had Team Awesome, Team Best, and Team Cool. If this trend continued, Gaara was pretty sure Team D would also have a new name before long. Which brought his attention to the final group.

"Welcome to Team D." Iruka smiles kindly at the group.

A shy looking girl smiles at him. "T-Thank you." So this was the mellow group then. Well with the exception of Lee it seemed.

Iruka nods as he hands them all a sheet of paper. It looked like some kind of lesson plan? Oh those poor kids! They had regular school while here?!

"I wanted to be with Guy Sensei!" Lee begins to cry crocodile tears.

That was very annoying, Gaara was considering gagging Lee when Neji stepped in. Thank goodness for Neji.

He places his hand over Lee's mouth. "Don't cry. You're still going to get to see him anyway." Then he shrugs. "Besides, a ninja must learn to adapt to less than ideal situations.

A brunette with two buns nods her head eagerly. "Yeah!" Apparently, Neji could do no wrong in Tenten's eyes.

Shino shrugs as he looks around and that's when Gaara notices there were a suspicious number of insects all over the place. This guy was literally bugging the place! That was both really smart and really, really creepy!

"Well we're going to need another name." That was true. "It would look odd if everyone had a new name, except for us."

Choji munches on some chips and nods. "Yeah! We're going to need something."

Gaara didn't think that he had ever seen that kid not eating something. Then again, it might be some sort of bloodline thing. His last named seemed familiar. He was pretty sure that Choji belonged to a Clan of some kind.

"Well, we'll be the Dream Team then!" Kankuro strikes a dramatic pose and Gaara sighs.

Perhaps, his brother had been watching Guy a little too closely. He'd never known the puppet lover to make poses like that before. Whatever. That was probably the least of their concerns at the moment.

"Alright." Iruka smiles. "The Dream Team sounds like a fine name. Does everyone else agree with that?"

There was a chorus of agreement and Gaara nods. Well it looked like the teams were set. They just had to all figure out how to survive Ninja Day Care. Sadly, Gaara was pretty sure that was going to be easier said than done.


	4. The Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teams are getting to know each other better and Team Awesome is very curious about what is underneath Kakashi's mask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. What I'm planning to do is have an intro chapter for each team which will be narrated by one character from that team and after the intro chapters, the puppy love ships will start to make an appearance. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I will be listing the teams at the top of every chapter to make it easier for everyone to keep track.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara , Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

Naruto wasn't really sure what to make of all this. He knew something really weird was going on. Why where there so many kids and why did all the adults look so nervous?

Apparently, he was on Team Awesome though. So that was cool. Maybe, he'd be able to make some friends here.

He smiles at Gaara. "Cute bear!" The red head blinks and clutches his bear more tightly to his chest.

Oh great. Now, the other boy probably thought that Naruto was going to try to steal his bear away from him or something. That wasn't what the blonde had in mind at all! He just wanted to make friends!

"My Mr. Squishy!" Gaara gives him a wary look as he clutches the bear even tighter. "Mine!" Oh boy.

What made the situation even worse was the jerk was rolling his eyes at him. No. Not Gaara. Sasuke!

Naruto twitches. He hated how Sasuke would do that. Like the jerk thought he was better than him or something. Which reminded him, it was time to kick his butt!

He gives Sasuke his best glare. "You got something to say to me?!" He glares more.

"Just that you're an idiot." Sasuke rolls his eyes again. "It's obvious that's his favorite toy. What did you think that Gaara was going to think you wanted to do?"

Pft! Why did the other boy always have to make him feel like an idiot?! That's it! He was going to show him who was boss!

Naruto was about to lunge at Sasuke when Kakashi stops him! That dirty cheater grabs him by his collar and scoops him up. That wasn't fair!

Kakashi chuckles. "Now, now that's no way to treat your comrade." Comrade? What was a Comrade?

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "Is that what we are?" Apparently, the older Uchiha Brother knew what it was though.

He looked a bit skeptical to say the least. Naruto had noticed the brothers stuck pretty close together. That was going to make things hard for him. Itachi was probably six. He was a lot bigger than Naruto.

Hidan smirks as he watches everything. Naruto didn't like that smirk. He'd wipe it off his face! "Haha!" The smirk continues to grow. "He sure showed you who was boss!"

The blonde had been hoping to make some friends here, but with the exception of Gaara and maybe Itachi, it was obvious he was surrounded by crazy people! That was okay though!

He would show them how strong he was! And one day, Naruto was going to be Hokage! Believe it!

"Kakashi Sensei!" He squirms around in his hold. "Put me down!"

Kakashi chuckles as he sets the sapphire eyed boy down and he looks at Itachi. "Yes, you're comrades." The silver haired man pauses and then continues. "Comrades are those you fight alongside with on the battlefield. If you're fortunate, they can become amongst your closest friends."

The blonde was keen on making friends, but not with this bunch of crazies. He could tell that the others were pretty skeptical too.

The white haired boy walks over to Sasuke. "I don't know why, but I feel like I know you. Were you in the sweets shop too?"

Sasuke blinks and shakes his head. "Nu uh. I don't like sweets." What?!

This kid was crazy! What sort of kid didn't even like sweets. That didn't make any sense! There was something seriously wrong with Sasuke. Naruto wondered, if he even liked ramen!

"You don't like sweets?" Suigetsu frowns and places his hand on Sasuke's forehead. "What's the matter with you?"

Kisame grins. "Maybe, the brat just likes meat better." Naruto blinks when he notices all of the blue skinned boy's very sharp teeth.

They reminded him of a shark. Actually, everything about that boy reminded him of a shark. He didn't know whether to think that was the coolest thing ever or to be terrified. So the blonde settles on both.

"I like meat, but tomatoes are my favorite." Sasuke smiles.

What?! Sasuke was smiling?! That never happened!

Itachi shakes his head in amusement. Clearly, he was used to such behavior from his brother. That didn't mean that Naruto was.

Naruto takes a moment to compare the brothers. They couldn't be more different. Itachi was quieter and never seemed to get excited about anything. Though it was obvious he was really smart and devoted to Sasuke.

The younger Uchiha seemed more focused on his family than anything else. Until now, the sapphire eyed boy thought that the other boy was just stuck up and couldn't smile. Now, he figured that he was only happy around his family members. That or if he was talking about tomatoes.

"Friends. What the f-" Kakashi shoots Hidan a dirty look for what he was undoubtedly about to say. "I mean…fine. Yeah. Cool. Whatever." He rolls his eyes.

Kakashi shakes his head. "I think that at least some of you need to work off some of that access energy you have in you." Maybe, but how?

Hmm. Why was Kakashi wearing a mask anyway? Was there something wrong with his face? Did he have buckteeth or fish lips maybe?

"Kakashi Sensei, why are you wearing a mask?" He decides it was best just to ask.

The other teams were all getting to know each others as well, but Naruto wasn't paying much attention to them. After all, he had a mystery to solve. Right now, that mystery was why was his instructor wearing a mask?

Kakashi chuckles. "Oh this? It's nothing." He smiles. "Now, lets go get something to eat." Naruto wasn't really sure how, but he could somehow tell that Kakashi was smiling underneath that thing. It was weird, how he knew that. But somehow he did.

"Food sounds great!" Suigetsu beams. "I could really go for some fish."

That's when he looks over at Kisame apologetically and the Uchiha Brothers looked mildly panicked. Naruto didn't get it though. What were they all so nervous about?

Kisame rolls his eyes. "I don't mind if you eat fish." Well yeah. Why would he mind?

"Isn't that…you know?" The violet eyed boy looks at him curiously.

No! Naruto didn't know! What on Earth was going on? He really didn't get it. He felt like they were all in on some inside joke that he didn't know about and it was really, really making him mad!

Kisame raises an eyebrow. "I don't know." He shrugs. "I doubt it though. I mean I eat fish all the time."

"Isn't that cannibalism?" Sasuke blinks.

Suigetsu grins. "Yeah! That's the word I was thinking of!" He pats Sasuke on his shoulder. "You're really smart Sassy."

Sasuke twitches and Suigetsu retracts his hand as if burnt. Actually, he was burnt! Kinda! Sasuke was literally smoking up a bit.

Itachi smirks. "Our Clan is a Fire Clan. You'll be able to produce a full fledge Fire Jutsu in no time, Sasuke." He nods approvingly. "Just keep practicing. Father will be so proud."

Hidan rolls his eyes. "Well that's pretty cool." He spits on the ground as if disgusted. "If it wasn't for the mushy stuff! So let's go get some grub!" He grins.

The CopyCat Ninja shakes his head and Naruto almost felt sorry for the guy. He was obviously going to have his hands full with this group, but that wouldn't stop Naruto! He was going to get that mask off him!

"Right, well let's go get some food." He smiles as he leads them off to the ramen shop.

* * *

Meanwhile Ibiki continues his interrogation. He had never met a more stubborn man. He was probing deeper and deeper into the man's mind, but he was a vault.

"Damn it!" All he could see were fuzzy images of the Sound Village.

Mostly of Orochimaru. That last part disturbed him. Saiden was obviously close to the recently deceased Sannin. That couldn't' be good.

"I told you that I was never going to reveal my secrets to you!" Saiden glares at him from inside his mind.

Maybe not willingly, but Ibiki would find a way. There was a reason why he was the Leaf's Number One Interrogator. It was a title that he took great pride in and he wasn't about to lose it to this _freak_!

The Leaf Ninja had met his fair share of unusual ninjas over the years and to be fair, there really was no such thing as a normal ninja. One had to be at least partially insane to begin with to want to take this job once you were old enough to graduate the Academy.

He grimaces. "Perhaps not willingly, but you will reveal them anyway." After all, Ibiki couldn't allow this to go on.

Some of the most powerful ninjas in the world were mere children now. He doubted that Saiden had done that just for his own amusement. No. There was a larger goal here. Ibiki just wasn't sure what it was.

At least not yet, but he was going to find it out. He was going to protect his village in the best way that he knew how. By stripping his opponent's mind bare.

"I'm more than willing to turn you into a vegetable, if that's what it takes." He'd done it before and he would do it again. "I would suggest that you make this easier on yourself. That outcome is not predestined." And while it was always a gruesome task to carry out, he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Ibiki would do anything for his village.

Saiden smirks. "There's nothing that you can do to me that will break me." They would just have to see about that.

"Those are tough words." Ibiki begins probing deeper. "Let us see how long you can hold to them!" Vegetable it was then.

* * *

A few minutes later, Team Awesome was at the Ramen Shop. Kakashi was speaking with the owner and the children were all enjoying a bowl of ramen. Some more than others.

"So we're all teammates now!" Naruto beams. "Comrades like Kakashi Sensei said!"

Gaara shakes his head. "They put it on this team because we're the most dangerous." The red head picks at his ramen. "Not because they wanted us to be friends."

Naruto blinks. The most dangerous?! What did the other boy mean by that?! They weren't dangerous. Well maybe Kisame was, but everyone else seemed pretty normal!

"That's perceptive of you." Itachi takes another bite of his noodles. "They did put us here because we're the biggest threat." He looks around as if he expected someone to overhear them.

Hidan smirks. "Well that is why we're Team Awesome!" He slurps his noodles happily.

Suigetsu raises an eyebrow. "So they're scared of us?" Yeah. That's' what Naruto was wondering.

"It seems that way. Why would the adults huddle like that, if they weren't?" Itachi frowns. "There's no cabbage in this."

"You're nuts! Who eats cabbage?" Kisame gives Itachi an incredulous look.

Yeah. Cabbage was kinda yucky, but that was besides the point. Naruto was a boy on a mission. It was as simple as that.

Maybe, he could get them to go along with it. "Hey, let's prove it!" He grins.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow." Prove what?" Well at least he had everyone's attention now. All his teammates were no looking at him.

This was his big chance! If they could unmask Kakashi it would prove that they were the best team and then he'd be well on his way to becoming Hokage! After all, Kakashi was an important ninja, right?

This would prove that they were all strong. And if the proved that they were the strongest team, that meant Naruto was strong too! That meant that he was strong enough to become Hokage!

"Prove that we're the best!" He smiles.

Hidan looks at him. "Alright. I'm listening." He slurps his noodles some more. "What do you got in mind?"

Naruto grins some more. This was all going according to plan! Perfect!

"We can steal Kakashi Sensei's Mask!" That would prove they were the best, right?

Suigetsu looks at Gaara. "Well I guess if we all come at him at once, Red here can probably grab it with his sand." Hmm! Yeah! That was a good plan.

Gaara looked rather shocked to be included and for a moment, Naruto felt bad for him. It was obvious that Gaara was as lonely as he was. No wonder he was clinging to that bear so much!

"Um alright." Gaara gives a shy smile. "I can do that."

Kisame smirks. "Great. It's settled then." Those teeth still creeped Naruto out so much.

Those couldn't possibly be natural, could they? Then again, it looked like Suigetsu's teeth were also sharp. Maybe, they were brothers or something.

"Hey, are you two brothers?" The blonde asks the two sharp toothed boys.

Suigetsu blinks and shakes his head. Oh. Not brothers then. That was kinda weird.

Kisame laughs. "Nah! We're just both from the Mist most likely. The Seven Swordsmen always sharpen their teeth!" He grins. "I'm gonna be one of them one day!"

This causes the white haired boy to tilt his head to the side. "Really?" He smiles. "Me too and it's going to be so awesome. I'm gonna find all the swords!"

Naruto didn't really understand what they were talking about, but that was okay. They had more important things to worry about. Like unmasking Kakashi!

* * *

 

Meanwhile Tsunade was back in her office. It was part of the Academy; so she wasn't really worried about being too far form all the chaos. It was just very difficult to think with that many children running around and some of them were very, very loud.

"I can't believe this." Tsunade had thought that she had seen everything and then, this happened.

She had no idea what she was going to do. Dividing them into teams had minimized the damage so much, but it was a stopgap measure. That wouldn't be enough in the long-term.

"My Lady?" Shizune walks into her office with some scrolls in her hand.

Oh good. Shizune. Maybe, Shizune had news from Ibiki. There was a chance that he had managed to crack Saiden and if that was the case, their troubles might be over in the very near future!

She nods at her encouragingly. "Come in, Shizune."

The other woman walks inside and sighs. Oh wonderful. A sigh was definitely not good news.

"It seems that Kakashi took Team A to the Ramen Shop." Shizune sighs.

What?! He what?! Was Kakashi completely out of his mind?! Oh when Tsunade got her hands on that man, he was going to get an earful!

The busty blonde twitches. "Very well. I shall make sure to deal with the situation." Thank goodness for Shizune or else Tsunade might never know what was going on.

"Yes, My Lady." Shizune nods and with that, Tsunade Flickers off to deal with Kakashi's latest prank or whatever this was.

* * *

 

Back at the Ramen Shop, Kakashi smiles as he heads back to the kids. Well that was good. He hadn't heard any sounds of arguing for awhile. Maybe, they were finally learning how to get along?

Of course, he knew that it was highly unlikely that he'd ever be that lucky. Still, a man could dream. Couldn't he? There was no harm in hoping.

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" Naruto leaps at him happily for a tackle hug.

The silver haired ninja umpfs and falls over. Well Naruto was certainly happy to see him. It had only been about ten minutes, but then again the blonde was now a small child. Ten minutes could be a lot to a little kid.

He smiles. "Yes, it's good to see you again too, Naruto." The Jonin chuckles.

"COMING AT YA!" Hidan joins the dog pile.

That was odd to say the least. The Masked Ninja had expected that sort of behavior from Naruto, but Hidan? That was a little bizarre to say the least.

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE MIST! WE'RE HERE TOO!" And with that Suigetsu lunges forward joining the other two children in hugging him tightly.

Kisame grins. "That's right!" He beams as he joins his comrades in the Tacklehugs of Doom!

Oh for the love of God, what was going on here? First, Naruto. Now, Hidan, Suigetsu, and Kisame? This didn't make any sense.

"Don't forget about us either!" Sasuke smiles as he and Itachi soon join the fray.

Why did this feel like some sort of ambush? Hmm. Wait a minute. Let's see here.

There was Naruto. That's one. Sasuke and Itachi made three. Suigetsu and Kisame added two more to the total, which made five. There was also Hidan. That meant he was up to six children.

"Where is Gaara?" He was missing someone.

It was Gaara. Now, where that red head. The future Kazekage with the Ultimate Defense and quite possibly, the biggest threat at the moment.

As far as Kakashi could tell, he might actually be the only child capable of fully using their adult abilities to any serious degree. And Gaara didn't always consciously choose to do so either. So even if he didn't mean any harm, he could still be dangerous.

"Gaara?" Very dangerous. "Where are you?" Which was why it was so concerning that that particular child was the one that had to go missing. This might not end well.

_SMACK!_ Some sand smacks into Kakashi from all directions. As the children were piling up on him and trying to distract him, the sand was "attacking him."

For a minute, the silver haired ninja thought that the red head had lost control. Lost control of his demon, but that didn't seem to be the case. The other children didn't seem frightened in the least.

"What are you all doing?!" It seemed like this was some sort of coordinated attack!

Gaara smiles. "Getting the Mask. Mr. Squishy is curious too!" He huggles his bear as the sand keeps going at him.

You've got to be kidding him. The children were trying to steal his mask. Kakashi honestly didn't know whether to find this amusing, disturbing, or to be proud that they were apparently quite capable of working together.

Well at least when they wanted to. This reminded him of the bell test. Ah good times. Good times.

He chuckles. "Alright." That was quite enough really. "You've had your fun. Now everyone, cease and desist."

"YOU GOT IT!" Sasuke smiles happily when the mask falls off of the Jonin.

Itachi sighs. "Kinda. He had a second mask underneath." Indeed. Kakashi always came prepared for situations like these. If Sasuke still had his memories intact, he would have known that. Thankfully, he didn't.

That didn't stop the red head or the other children though. They kept coming at him with hugs and sand attack. They were ferocious little things, it seemed.

"That's enough!" He didn't actually want to have to get rough with a bunch of children.

It didn't matter how old they were in reality. All of them ranged from five years of age to eight. That was hardly a fair fight. It didn't matter how gifted they would all be one day.

Kakashi had to put an end to this before it got out of hand. Someone could seriously get hurt and then, Tsunade would tan his hide!

He feels a slight tug on his face though and his eyes go wide. "MR. SQUISHY AND ME GOT IT! WE GOT IT!" The red head had pulled off his Mask.

That's when Tsunade appears in a swirl of smoke and the Jonin blinks. "I can't believe this. One of my best ninjas outclassed by a bunch of brats." She shakes her head. "Though I don't really see why you where the Mask, you look just fine without it."

Kakashi rubs the back of his head sheepishly in response. He didn't really know what to say to that. Though he felt rather naked without his Mask. That much was for certain.

He sighs and reaches over to grab his Masks. The brats as Tsunade called them didn't bother to try to stop him. Apparently, they didn't need him unmasked anymore. They had seen what they wanted to see.

"Man, that was awesome!" Naruto grins at the red head.

Suigetsu nods his head excitedly. "Yeah! That's why we're Team Awesome!" The former (or was it future) Prodigy in the Art of Murder also grins.

Gaara blinks. It seemed the poor kid didn't know how to handle praise. Kakashi shakes his head at this. Well one day, he'd get used to it. He was going to become Kazekage, after all.

"I can't believe that you brought them out here by yourself." Tsuande glares at Kakashi. "What were you thinking?!"

Kakashi sighs. "That they needed to burn off some energy and they needed to eat." He shrugs. "So I figured I'd solve both problems."

The Hokage smacks her forehead. "You're lucky that all they wanted was to see your face." She then glances at the boys. "Alright, we're going back to the Academy. Follow me." And with that, she heads off.

Kakashi sighs and gestures for them to follow. After all, you didn't disobey an order from your Hokage and especially not from a Sannin. Not if you wanted to live long enough to see your next birthday, anyway.


	5. Cookies & Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deidara embraces his artistic side as his team tries to get everyone cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara , Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

Deidara smiles happily as he continues his painting. He had a nice white canvas to work with. Naturally, he was going to need a lot of red!

"What are you painting?" A large orange haired boy who looked about six looks at him curiously.

Well Deidara was only too happy to show off his work! He glances at the name tag and determines the other boy's name was Jugo before answering. "An explosion!" He grins.

Of course, he was making an explosion! That was what art was after all. Oh and he was sure that everyone else would be really impressed by his artistic skills too!

"Oh." Jugo smiles. "What's all that red?"

The blonde's grin grows even wider. "That's blood obviously!" And while Deidara was positively delighted at his painting, Jugo suddenly looks a little green and backs away from him slowly.

Deidara tilts his head and shrugs. Oh well. Not everyone was an artist and understood such things!

Pain seems to notice his work, but he was more interested in that blue haired girl than anything else! Hmpf! Deidara wasn't sure what was up with those two! Maybe, they were brother and sister?

"Do you really think this place is safe?" Konan looks at Pain with concerned eyes.

Pain looks around and shrugs. "No one seems particularly worried about anything. I think so." Hmm. That was weird.

Why were they so worried about whether or not this place was safe? Were there going to be explosions soon? Because that would be really fun!

Guy smiles. "I'm so glad that you're all getting along." Getting along? Hmm.

The blonde wasn't really sure, if he would go that far. Though no one was really bothering him. So he supposed everything was okay for the moment! Yeah!

"So I say we blow this place!" Kakuzu huddles with Zetsu.

Zetsu was weird. He looked like a boy, but also like a plant. Of course, weird was kinda relative here. There were a lot of strange looking people at this place!

Deidara had extra mouths on his hand. Kisame looked like a shark. And yeah, Zetsu looked like a plant. This doesn't really bother him though!

None of the adults looked too worried about it. If there was something seriously wrong with any of them, surely they would be freaking out. Right?

FlowerBoy looks back at him in an utterly baffled way. "Why would we want to leave?" Yeah. That was a good point. They kinda had everything they needed here.

Well except for cookies. Deidara liked cookies. They should definitely get some of those!

Sai smiles and continues painting. Well at least Deidara wasn't the only artist! So that was good! Now, about those cookies…

Guy smiles another blindingly white smile. "So why don't we start by introducing ourselves?" He strikes a dramatic heroic pose. "I'm Guy. The Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Konan tilts her head. "I don't see why we have to introduce ourselves." She gestures towards her name tag. "We've all got name tags besides you."

"And you just introduced yourself." Pain nods in agreement. "So that makes further introductions rather pointless."

The Spandex Lover's face fell a bit at that. Poor Guy. It looked like he was really trying. Oh well. Deidara would throw him a bone.

"I want some cookies!" The blonde beams at him.

After all, he'd probably feel better, if he had something to do. He might as well get him cookies. Yeah?!

Guy chuckles. "That's the Power of Youth!" Um yeah. Right. Whatever.

At that moment, Tsunade walks past them with Kakashi and Team Awesome trailing behind them. Hmm. Someone had gotten into trouble! Big trouble!

"How is Team B?" She glances at him warily.

Guy strikes another dramatic hero pose and Deidara laughs. Well if nothing else, their teacher was funny. Though he didn't think Guy was intentionally trying to be so.

He grins at her. "Good. I haven't had any problems, Lady Tsunade!" The busy browed man then blinks at how sheepish Kakashi looked.

"Glad to hear it." She turns her attention to Kakashi. "And don't run off with them again! I'm going back to my office. The day to day affairs of the village have to be managed in spite of this." And with that being said, she storms off back to her office.

Guy chuckles. Clearly, he found the entire concept amusing. Though Deidara was growing less amused. Why weren't they allowed to leave. Were they prisoners?

Guy winks at Kakashi. "So what happened?" Yeah. His teacher, if you could call him that, was definitely enjoying this.

"I took them out to get some food." Kakashi sighs. "She never said that we couldn't take them anywhere."

Iruka sighs and looks at Kakashi. "Well it is just kinda assumed." He shakes his head disapprovingly.

"Never figured that you'd be such a girlie girl!" Hidan sticks his tongue out at Konan. "You gots yourself a little dollie and everything!"

Konan twitches, but it was Pain who acted first. "Don't tease her!" It looked like the boy was going to have a go at him, but sadly, it didn't happen.

"Awe come on!" Deidara, Suigetsu, and Kisame whine. "Why'd you stop the fight?!" They all demand in unison!

Kakashi sighs. "You aren't supposed to fight here!" Oh really?

What kind of Ninja Academy was this, if they weren't supposed to fight?! Didn't that defeat the purpose of being ninjas?! This was a really weak village!

* * *

Elsewhere, Ibiki had decided to take a break for lunch. Interrogating was hard work, but was almost impossible to do on an empty stomach. Well at least that had been his experience.

This was absolutely crazy. He had no idea what he was going to do about any of this. Some of the strongest ninjas in the world were currently children and Ibiki was perhaps the only person who could get answers.

"Thank you, Ayame." The middle aged ninja thanks the Ramen Shop Girl as he takes his order.

Obviously, the current situation was unacceptable. The Akatsuki had to be turned back and made to answer for crimes. The same was said for Taka. Not to mention, they still had the Rookie Nine and the Sand Siblings to consider.

"And one of them is Kazekage." He sighs as he bites into his meal.

H wondered how long they could keep this under wraps. The fact that they had a Kage here meant that their odds of keeping it a secret for long weren't great. It wouldn't take too long for the Sand to miss their Kage.

Kages were essential to keep Ninja Villages running smoothly. Without Gaara, eventually his second-in -command would step in. There was only one problem though.

"Kankuro is his second-in-command." And Ibiki didn't know, if Gaara had someone chosen to take over in the event Kankuro couldn't.

This could mean complete chaos in one of the Great Ninja Villages. That simply wouldn't do. No. It was up to him to find answers.

Saiden though. Well Ibiki was beginning to wonder, if the man was actually human. So far, he hadn't been able to get anything out of him and that was with a rather thorough mind probe.

He sighs as he bites into his meal. "Well failure isn't an option." Ibiki would just have to find a way to do it.

* * *

Meanwhile the Senseis had gotten distracted talking to each other, so Deidara and the rest of Team Best had snuck off. Hmpf. As if they were to allow themselves to be addressed as Team B.

That was just so lame and they were not lame! Deidara knew that much! Yeah!

"Where are we going again?" Jugo smiles as he follows.

They were going to get the damn cookies! That's where they were going! One way or another, they were going to get them! And all the sugary goodness would belong to Team Best! Muhahaha!

Deidara grins at him. "We're going to get the cookies!" That much should have been obvious.

"How do we know that they have them?" Sai tilts his head to the side as he ponders this possibility.

"In a place this big, they would have to." The eccentric blonde smiles as they continue making their way to the kitchen.

Konan and Pain were looking around. Those two were really starting to freak him out. They were like wild animals that had just gotten out of a cage and didn't really know what to do with themselves. It was freaky.

"Well it couldn't hurt to grab whatever food they do have." Pain nods as if this was a sage decision.

That was true. "Yeah!" Maybe, Deidara was being a little too harsh on the guy.

Zetsu smiles as he reaches over and into Deidara's pocket. Well the blonde didn't particularly care for that. He tries to smack his teammate.

"Hey!" He'd show him how much art was an explosion, if he kept that up! "Get your hands out of there!"

Flowerboy didn't seem particularly deterred though. Well Deidara would fix that! Yeah!

Zetsu smiles at him and pulls out the explosive tags. "We can use these." Hmm. Yes, they could!

"Explosive tags?" Sai blinks. "So you want to use them as a distraction while we get the food?"

Deidara nods! That was brilliant! Why didn't he think of that before?! It was perfect!

Konan pauses as she considers this. "It would seem to be our best course of action." She talked funny. All fancy like. Whatever!

The important thing was that they had a plan now. They would show the rest of the Academy that Team Best wasn't to be taken lightly!

* * *

Meanwhile in Tsunade's Office, the busty blonde was getting busy making lists. It was important to head off any potential problems later down the line. There were a lot of children in their care who would one day grow up to hate each other and she wasn't entirely certain how much of that hatred was just a given.

"Let's see. There's obviously the Uchiha Brothers, but neither seems to remember the Massacre." She writes that down.

If they did though, that would cause a major problem. She wasn't sure if Sasuke would be terrified or if it would be a Revenge of the Chibi Situation. Either way, that was not something that Tsunade wanted to deal with.

One day, Taka would be teammates. It was apparent that Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu had been willing to work with each other at least in the beginning. She wasn't sure, fi that was a good thing or not.

"Potentially problematic, but not a high concern at the moment." There were other things that she had to be worried about.

Naruto and Sasuke were constantly bickering. Though she suspected separating them would only result in more chaos. Which was part of the reason why they were both on Team A.

She sighs. "And then there is Obito." Obito who was Kakashi's former teammate.

The man who should be dead. How was he alive? He must have joined the Akatsuki at some point and that was more than a little troubling.

She didn't know, if Kakashi could remain objective, if it came down to it. Obito had been his comrade. That and he was a child now. If Obito's memories came back and he tried to betray Kakashi, that was going to be brutal.

"And then there are the orphans." She really needed to find a way to keep Konan and Pain from terrifying the other children with stories about the war.

While she still had concerns about them all as individuals, there was one final issue. The Sand Siblings!

Gaara was Kazekage. He couldn't go missing for long periods of time like this. That and as far as the Sand Siblings were concerned, they were in enemy territory at the moment.

Tsunade's eyes narrow. "I'm going to need a lot of sake." That seemed like the only logical way to deal with this situation in her mind.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Academy, Team Best fires off the explosive tags. "YEAH! ART IS AN EXPLOSION!" And that meant Deidara was in his happy place.

Very soon, they would have the cookies and everyone would know not to mess with Team B. Wait. He meant Team Best! Yeah!

"How many of those do you have?" Jugo looks at him curiously.

Hmm. Deidara wasn't sure actually. He just really hoped that there were a lot of them! It would be really uncool, if they ran out of them in the middle of their Cookie Heist!

He starts counting. "Hmm. One, two, three…" Deidara decides it was probably best just to count. So a few minutes later, he ends up with a number. "Twenty-eight!"

That seemed like a good number. With that in mind, they quickly sprint to the kitchen. It wouldn't take the adults that long to realize what was going on! Time was of the essence!

"We're going to need a lot of bags or something." Zetsu looks around for them, after they arrive in the kitchen.

Yeah! That was a good point! They were going to need something to put all the goodies in. Good thinking on Flowerboy's part!

Konan smiles as she opens the fridge. Deidara could swear that he heard heavenly music playing when it opened. There was so much food and it was theirs! All theirs!

"Better start stuffing." Kakuzu begins to do exactly that as he stuffs everything he could see into some bags that he found. "Those explosions are only going to buy us so much time!"

That was a good point. Deidara nods and starts stuffing things into several bags too. There were lots of goodies.

"Maybe, we should share some of it with the others." Sai smiles pleasantly.

Share?! Why would they do that?! Team Best did all the hard work! Why should they share it with the other teams?! That was just crazy talk! The other artist was clearly out of his mind!

Pain pauses. "It'd probably be a good idea." He smiles. "A nice way to make potential alliances."

Potential alliances? What were they talking about? Why would they need alliances?

They were Team Best! Their team shouldn't need anyone else. That's why they were the best. Because they were amazing and didn't need any help!

Kakuzu nods. "That'd be a good idea! Come on, let's go!" Wait! Was he getting overruled?!

Damn it! This had been **his** idea! They should be listening to him! Deidara flails as he gets dragged off by his teammates.

At that same moment, Iruka blinks. "Kakashi!" He had heard explosions. "Guy! Did you hear that?!"

Kakashi nods and his face turns grim. "I heard it." That's when Iruka notices his comrade had suddenly produced a lot of Shadow Clones. "Let's go investigate." So Iruka followed suit.

Guy looks around as he does a head count and blinks. It became obvious what had happened. Team B was missing!

"I'll stay back here and protect the others while you wrangle them!" He strikes another dramatic pose. "Don't worry! The Power of Youth is on our side!"

Iruka twitches. If the Power of Youth was on their side, the children wouldn't have wandered off in the first place. He had a hard time believing that Guy could be so careless!

What was the matter with him?! Didn't he understand exactly who was in his care?! All of those children would grow up to be dangerous ninjas one day!

"Good thinking!" Kakashi nods approvingly as he drags Iruka off.

Good thinking? Good thinking?! If the Jonin had been thinking clearly, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!

Though Iruka knew he was being petty. They needed to deal with Team B. After that, he'd give Guy the tongue-lashing of a lifetime!

"I might not have the Power of Youth on my side, but I do have the Power of Righteous Fury." He rolls his eyes as he and Kakashi head off.

Luckily, Team Best had already snuck passed them. Once they arrived back in the room with all the other children (minus Team Cool!) They saw the clones, but that wasn't going to stop them!

"FREE FOOD FOR EVERYONE! YEAH!" And with that, Deidara starts throwing food at the other children.

Kiba blinks. Obviously, the canine lover knew what this meant. "FOOD FIGHT!" And yes, that's exactly what this meant!

Now, they were talking! Yeah! This was going to be fun. Deidara grabs as many cupcakes as his hands could hold and starts throwing them at people.

Gaara seemed to think it was some kind of attack though. His sand rears up around him immediately and he pulls his brother in with him. Deidara was sure he would have done the same to Temari, if she was there.

She wasn't though. Team Cool was on some sort of hike. Whatever. It was their loss! They were missing all the fun!

"The Dream Team will win the fight for the Power of Youth is on our side!" A Mini Guy jumps up and down excitedly as he starts hurling the cupcakes right back at them.

Deidara blinks at the sight of the Mini Guy. Apparently, the spandex lover must have managed to have a kid. There was no way that Lee wasn't Guy's son. They had to be related, right?

"Will stop talking about the Power of Youth?!" Surprisingly, it was Itachi who snapped first. "IT'S ANNOYING!" And hurled a cabbage at Lee.

That's right. A cabbage. No. Deidara didn't have any idea where the eldest Uchiha Brother got that thing.

"Right well, challenge accepted!" Suigetsu grins. "Team Awesome is totally going to win this!" And he starts throwing things everywhere!

"What? No way!" Tenten throws out some tomatoes! "The Dream Team is going to make you scream!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. Clearly, he though that was one of the lamest things that he had ever heard. Deidara didn't though. That was a pretty good line!

He glances at Itachi and nods his head. Sasuke soon joins his brother in throwing things. In this case, it was rice balls.

"That sand would come in handy, right about now." Konan sighs as she grabs Pain and hides behind the large playhouse.

Those sissies! They couldn't take the heat! Whatever! They were Team Best and they were going to prove it! With or without their help! Yeah!

Tsunade blinks as she walks over and sees the food fight. Damn it. That meant that playtime was likely almost over. That wasn't any fun.

Didn't Tsunade know that blondes were supposed to have more fun?! "THAT'S IT! STOP IT!" Apparently, not.

Someone really needed to update her on the rule book. Naruto was hurling ramen and Temari had found some apples. They were clearly following the Blonde Rule Book. So Deidara honestly didn't know what Tsunade's problem was!

"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade." Iruka pants as he comes back with Kakashi.

Tsunade twitches. "It's fine, Iruka." She sighs. "This isn't your fault. Guy is the one who let his team out and Kakashi took his to the Ramen Shop."

The busty blonde shakes her head. Obviously, she was growing more and more frustrated. Though Deidara didn't really understand why.

"At least you and Kurenai have more sense than that." She sighs in relief.

"What are you talking about?" Hidan looks up at Tsuande like she was nuts.

Uh oh. He wasn't actually going to do it, was he? Hidan wasn't going to tattle on Team Cool. No way!

That would totally be not cool! That idiot! Didn't he know about the Chibi Honor Code! Probably not. Oh well. Deidara was just going to have to beat some sense into him later.

Art was an explosion and Hidan was about to find that out. You didn't rat out other kids to the adults! Seriously! Way uncool! Yeah?!

"Is there something that I'm missing?" Tsunade raises an eyebrow.

Hidan shrugs. "They went on a nature hike awhile back." And that's when all Hell broke loose because Tsunade was definitely not a happy Hokage when she heard that!

Deidara felt a stab of pity for Team Cool. They were going to be in so much trouble! Still, it was going to be really awesome to watch and well, art was an explosion!


	6. Team Cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to get to know Team Cool better!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This is Team Cool's Chapter. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: This one will be framed mostly from Obito's Perspective.

Obito smiles as he follows Kurenai and the rest of Team Cool to the forests surrounding the Leaf Village. Thankfully, it wasn't the Forest of Death. That place could give anyone the creeps!

"Pretty flowers!" Mirai smiles as she gazes in wonder at all the beautiful flowers that were surrounded her team.

They were indeed very pretty, but that was just another reason why Obito didn't mind being on Team Cool. His team was fairly mellow, especially compared to Team Awesome and Team Best. And the Dream Team seemed a bit too mellow for his tastes. (Well other than Lee, that guy was way too energetic to be considered normal)!

So all in all, he was happy to be on the Cool Team. What made it even better is he was the oldest kid in their group. That meant he was the coolest of the cool kids!

Ino smiles as she picks up a few. "Oh yes, these ones are called Sakura Blossoms." She glances at her friend. "Like her hair."

Kurenai laughs quietly at this information as her daughter seems positively delighted at this discovery. She immediately sets about trying to weave the pink petals through the hair of her female teammates and much to the his dismay, even Obito's hair wasn't safe from the toddler! Stupid flowers!

He was willing to over look that though. Mirai was only two. It was impossible to really stay made at someone that young. She didn't know yet that boys generally didn't wear flowers in their hair!

"So we're just going to stay on the safer trails for today." Kurenai smiles at them as they continue their walk.

That's when Obito hears a loud excited bark and blinks. The puppy had just darted off chasing after something. A cat. Wonderful.

If there was one thing he knew about dogs and cats, it was that they tended to hate each other. It was like him and Kakashi. This was going to get ugly.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba chases after his dog. "Get back here!"

Speaking of Kakashi, Obito wasn't stupid. He knew something was up. That man with the silver haired was called Kakashi, but Kakashi was his age. Well at least he was supposed to be.

So why was Kakashi so much bigger than him? It didn't make any sense. To make matters even more suspicious, the adults had divided everyone up into groups. Groups that seemed to be organized somehow by personality.

Karin shakes her head. "He's probably going to spend all day chasing after him." Obito couldn't really disagree with that assessment, but it was the least of his concerns at the moment.

Team Awesome could really be renamed Team Psycho. Well with the exception of his relatives. Itachi and Sasuke seemed alright, but clearly the rest of that team was ready for a fight. (So was Sasuke, but that seemed to be mostly against Naruto).

Team Best was well off. Something about them just felt off. Like they looked calm on the surface for the most part, but that felt like a bomb that could go off at any time. The main exception being Deidara.

"Probably, but Akamaru is a cute puppy." Sakura giggles.

Deidara probably should be in Team Awesome, but Obito suspected that the adults just hadn't wanted to separate Itachi and Sasuke from each other. Which was probably a good idea.

The eldest Uchiha got the impression that Itachi's serenity would have vanished instantly, if they had tried that. And there was something about that kid that told Obito, he could be extremely dangerous when he wanted to be. So keeping the brothers together had probably been a smart move.

Kurenai shakes her head as if she was exasperated. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And sends a clone off in search of Kiba and Akamaru.

Team Cool was mostly pretty mellow, but they had some feisty people in their ranks too. The girls in particular seemed animated. Thankfully, Shikamaru's laziness seemed to balance that out well enough.

Finally, there was Team D. The Dream Team. As far as he could tell, they seemed to be the ones least likely to throw a temper tantrum and they were the only team that had a Chunin for an instructor. Every other team had a Jonin. That meant they were probably the least dangerous.

"What a drag." Shikamaru yawns as he hangs back with Obito. "What are you thinking?" He gives him a suspicious look. "Because, I know you're thinking something. I see that look in your eye."

Lazy Bones was certainly perceptive. Obito had to give him that much. Then again, he had never really had the best poker face. So perhaps, it was only to be expected that the other boy would see straight through him.

So there was really no point in lying. "Something's wrong about all of this." Besides, Shikamaru might be able to help. He was really smart.

"You're right." The feisty blonde girl agrees as she walks over to them. "There is something strange going on." He probably should have seen that coming though.

Wherever LazyBones was, FanGirl was sure to follow. Obito had privately dubbed her FanGirl because she drug a fan with her everywhere she went. A really big one.

He doubted that she would even be able to use it because it was really that big. Though he knew he was getting off topic here. The important thing was they had to figure out what was going on! What weren't the adults telling them?!

"Yeah!" Now, he had two allies. "Something really weird is going on and we're going to find out what!" And one way or another, they were going to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Meanwhile Saiden smirks as he notices Ibiki had fallen asleep. Perfect. Now, he could escape. So he does what any intelligent ninja would do in his situation. He feigns death or unconsciousness.

Naturally, someone did come to check on him eventually. "OH GOD! IBIKI, WAKE UP!" He makes sure not move a muscle. Not even to breathe.

The human body could only go so long without oxygen, but he was willing to make the bet that they would uncuff him before that became a serious problem. After all, immorality was not something that was discovered by the faint of heart. He'd take his chances!

Sure enough, Ibiki goes to check his pulse. "His heart isn't beating." With that, he undoes the cuffs and sets him down. Most likely he was going to attempt to resuscitate him.

Of course, he'd never get the chance. "I've learned how to control my heart rate down to the point where it only beats once per minute." He slams his fist into Ibiki, knocking the other man out.

Saiden smirks as he gets up and hurls kunais into the other ninja. "A ninja must expect the unexpected after all." Apparently, he should have followed his own advice.

"AHHH! THE PRISONER IS ESCAPING!" Because the ninja he threw the kunais at gets hit and screams out in pain. "HELP! HELP!" Sadly, she was also crying out for help.

He didn't have long. As much as he would have loved to kill Ibiki and the other ninja, he simply didn't have the time. So he uses the Body Flicker Technique and heads off.

"I'll just have to conduct my schemes from afar for now." He ends up in the Forest of Death.

The nice thing about the Forest of Death was that no one went there willingly. So that meant he would have complete privacy. Complete privacy to figure out the best way to take over the Leaf and unlock Orochimaru's dream of immortality!

* * *

Meanwhile Tsunade feels herself twitch. She leaves Kakashi, Guy, and Iruka behind in favor of finding Team C. She couldn't believe this! Why was everyone so irresponsible?!

"KURENAI!" Fortunately, it didn't take too long to find the other woman.

What was less fortunate was that she only found the Genjutsu Mistress, a cute puppy, and one tiny Inuzuka. "Lady Hokage." Kurenai smiles at her.

That smile was just too much for the busty blonde to deal with! What was wrong with these people?! Didn't they understand that these weren't just any children they were dealing with?!

These children were going to grow up to be some of the most powerful ninjas in the world. And that was only the beginning! Some of them would grow up and attack the Leaf Village!

The had the Akatsuki in their midst. "Where are the others?!" The Akatsuki and Taka. These children were not to be underestimated.

Sure, they might look now, but one day they would be capable of killing a Kazekage! Granted, Gaara was later brought back, but it was really the principle of the thing! Was she the only one who hadn't taken complete leave of her senses?!

"They're nearby." Kurenai smiles at her reassuringly. "I left a clone with them. Akamaru wandered off." So naturally, Kiba wandered off as well.

Of course. Inuzukas had such a strong bond with their canine companions that at times, Tsunade wondered if it was entirely healthy. In any case, that wasn't her primary concern right now.

She shakes her head in disbelief at the situation that she had found herself in. "Alright. Well let's head back to them and go back to the Academy." The sooner they got there, the better.

What was she supposed to say, if someone saw the Chibis running around. That is what she had mentally dubbed all the children. The Chibis and the Chibis were a force to be reckoned with in their own right.

"Of course, Lady Tsunade." And with that, the two of them head back to the rest of Team C and finally, back to the Academy.

* * *

A few hours later, Temari, Obito, and Shikamaru were still plotting. They all knew that something strange was going on and clearly, it was up to them to figure out what. Obito was just at a loss for how they were going to do that.

"So we all agree that the adults are up to something." Obito didn't really know where to begin. "We just need to find out what. Should we have the other kids help us with this?" Maybe, more allies would be a good thing!

On second thought, there was a risk that could backfire. What if one of the kids told the adults? There was always a tattler in every bunch, Obito thinks to himself knowledgeably. Could they really risk such an outcome?

Shikamaru yawns as he looks around. "What a drag." Clearly, he was at a loss too. He probably just didn't want to say so.

"Well I'm definitely telling Kankuro and Gaara." Wait. What?! "They're my brothers. They deserve to know, if something weird is going on." Alright. Maybe, Temari had a point.

Still, Obito would be lying, if he said that he wasn't scared of the red head. Though as long as he had that bear, everything should be okay. Damn. He was really attached to that thing!

"Yeah. Alright." Obito pauses as if trying to decide the best way to word this. "They're your family. So that's okay, but I'm not so sure about everyone else." Maybe, the less people they told, the better.

Shikamaru shakes his head. "At a minimum, we kinda have to tell our team." Damn it! LazyBones was probably right about that.

They'd notice, if the three of them were plotting together. Well at least their team would notice, if they were smart. And Obito didn't think that they had a dumb team!

A dumb team was not a cool team! And they were Team Cool! So obviously, they couldn't be dumb! It was very basic math!

"He's right. I'll be my brothers. You two work on waking the others up!" And with that, the feisty blonde heads off.

"Dude, you're girlfriend is soooo bossy!" Obito grins at Shikamaru.

He blinks when he saw his teammate twitch at him. Obito didn't know why. Temari was bossy. He had to know that, right?

Shikamaru rolls his eyes. "What a drag! She's not my girlfriend!" Liar, liar! Pants on Fireball Jutsu!

"Whatever you say." He looks around as they sneak over to their sleeping teammates. "Just be careful not to wake anyone else from the other teams up!" And especially not the grownups!

The grownups had decided to stay over at the Academy. Everyone was supposed to be asleep. Of course, he wasn't because bedtimes were just so stupid! He'd go to sleep when he wanted! Thank you, very much!

"Got it." One by one, they nudged their team awake, except for Kurenai's daughter.

Predictably, the girls were less than thrilled by this. Whatever. They had more important things to worry than whether or not, they'd be grumpy about getting woken up too soon!

"What's the big idea?!" Ino demands as she twitches.

Sakura nods. It was obvious that she was just as grumpy as Ino about getting woken up early. Karin wasn't looking that much happier either.

Just then Temari come back with her brothers and Kiba gasps. "You brought PuppetBoy and the Psycho here?!"

Gaara glares at Kiba for calling him a psycho and luckily Shikamaru captures them both with his Shadow Possession Jutsu. There was no time to be fighting among themselves, when they had to figure out what the adults were hiding!

"Stop it!" He glares at both of them. "This is important and it'd be a drag to have to repeat all of is." And as if to confirm Shikamaru's assessment, Akamaru gives a quiet bark of agreement.

Ino looks at the Sand Siblings, Shikamaru, and Obito warily. Clearly, the blonde was beginning to connect the dots. They weren't playing around this time.

"Alright. What's going on?" Obito could see the wariness in her eyes and it wasn't without good reason.

He just didn't know how to begin to explain everything to them. Apparently, he was the only one that realized Kakashi should not be an adult. That meant it was up to him to tell everyone that something fishy was going on!

The eldest Uchiha pauses before starting. "Well Kakashi is supposed to be our age, but he isn't." It was probably best just to be blunt.

"What are you talking about?" Karin glances at him with confused and slightly suspicious eyes.

That was fine though. None of them really had any reason to trust each other. They were all strangers and with the exception of Sasuke and Itachi, none of them were family .

Oh and the Sand Siblings. Oh and Neji and Hinata were cousins. Wait. Nevermind. He was getting off track here. Obito knew that it was imperative that he focus! This was super important!

He sighs and takes a deep breath as he continues on. "Kakashi is supposed to be the same age as me, but he's an adult." He looks around warily to make sure none of the others heard him. "So either he got bigger or we got smaller."

Gasps were heard from the other children. Obito knew why. That was quite the shocking theory to present, but it was the only one that made sense.

"That would explain why none of us have seen our parents in awhile." The Inuzuka nods slowly as he processes that bombshell.

Obito nods in agreement. True. And it would also explain why he didn't recognize his relatives either.

"So they've been keeping us here to observe us." The pink haired girl blinks. "But is it to make sure that we're all okay or something else? Something bad?"

That was a good question. So far, Obito hadn't noticed anything particularly alarming. That didn't mean that something sinister wasn't going on it though. Far from it.

Gaara glances at Obito with seafoam green eyes that creeped him out big time. "So you think someone turned us into children?" Well it wasn't really so the color as the fact they didn't have any pupils and that they were surrounded by black feral like markings. It gave him a slightly feral appearance.

Were those natural? Maybe, it was just makeup? But what kind of five year old boy wears makeup? Well besides Kankuro, anyway?

Nah. That couldn't be it. Maybe, they were bags under his eyes? If that was the case, Gaara didn't sleep much.

Yikes! "Yeah. That's exactly what I think!" No wonder, he was so scary. The boy probably didn't get much sleep. That was enough to make anyone grumpy!

Karin frowns. "Who would turn us into kids and why don't we remember then?" Those were very good questions.

Obito really wished that he had some answers, but right now he was coming up with nothing. None of them seemed to have any real memories beyond the age of their physical bodies.

It was possible that any of them had made powerful enemies in the "future." That or all of them. They would never know. Though they were all going to become ninjas so that was more likely the case than nothing.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." He promises them.

* * *

Meanwhile Iruka sighs as he glances over some of the information he had on all the children in his care. Currently, he was in his office. He was supposed to be sleeping, but the Chunin just couldn't do it.

There were far too many thoughts running through his mind. Who had done this and why? Was it permanent? If it wasn't, what would be the long-term effects of going from being to an adult to a child and to an adult again?

What about their minds? Right now, none of the children seemed to remember anything. Would that be the case when they turned back though? If they ever turned back at all?

"Can we really punish them for crimes, that they don't remember committing?" There was a chance that neither the Akatsuki, nor Taka would remember anything. "That doesn't seem right." And thus in a strange way, they would be punishing innocent ninjas.

That wasn't something that Iruka was sure that he could abide by. It was tough to imagine the future. That one day, these cute kids were going to be fearsome ninjas. Most of whom could kill him with ease.

Right now though, Iruka was was their instructor and they were helpless children. He had to remind himself of that fact. Even the Akatsuki were currently innocent.

It was pointless to lie to himself though. "I really don't like having the Akatsuki that close to Gaara and Naruto." Gaara had been killed by the Akatsuki and the Akatsuki had attacked the village in hopes of stealing the Nine Tails from the blonde ninja.

This was a recipe for disaster. The Chunin wasn't sure how this story would have a happy ending. Still, he had to try.

He had gone into this profession because he loved children. Sometimes they could drive him absolutely crazy, but at the end of the day he was fond of all his students. Even though Naruto had nearly given him a head of gray hair that could rival Kakashi's, he still cared for the boy and all the rest as if they were his own.

"Hopefully, Ibiki can come up with something." That interrogator was their best chance at getting the answers that everyone so desperately needed.

They were managing to contain all the children for now. Though Iruka wasn't really sure how long that would last. These weren't just any ordinary children.

Even without their abilities or very watered down versions of them. Their personalities alone meant that they were all going to be a handful. He had gotten very lucky when he was put in charge of Team D.

He might have been able to handle C fairly well, but B and A were completely off limits. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Kakashi was going to do so.

He had taught some of Team A himself, but that had been a long time ago. Before he knew what they would one day grow up and be capable of. That was a far cry from the task that had been thrust upon Kakashi.

"I almost feel sorry for him." The man now had a lot on his plate and it was clear that the Hokage was less than pleased with him.

Though honestly, he really should have known better. What had he been thinking?! Why had he taken them away from the Academy? That had just been tempting fate!

Surely, he could see that! Kakashi was a highly intelligent man, but sometimes he was a little too casual for Iruka's tastes. Why that man had ever been put in charge of a team of Genin, the Chunin would never understand.

Still, that was neither here, nor there. "We've got a lot of work to do." They had to make Saiden talk and find a way to restore the children back to their true ages. After that, well they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

For now, Iruka was exhausted. Maybe, he had wound himself up tighter than he had originally thought. For whatever reason, he suddenly found that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

"I'll deal with it in the morning." He yawns as he rests his head on his desk for the moment.

After all, all the children were asleep. Other than possibly Gaara, what harm could a sleeping child do? Of course, he had no way of knowing the truth. That Team Cool had figured out something was amiss and was currently plotting a war against the adults for answers.

If he had known that, Iruka never would have gone to sleep. But he didn't and so, he was out like a light, not even five minutes later. The fight would begin in earnest in the morning.


	7. Say Something Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children have to complete an interesting team building exercise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This will be the final chapter of the Team Intro Arc. I wanted to show one chapter framed from each team's perspective so to speak. So once again, here are the teams and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

The next morning, Hinata woke up to whispering. Lots of whispering and it was all coming from Team Cool. Sadly, her super vision didn't mean she had super hearing. So she didn't catch all of it.

She caught some of it though. "Kakashi." Obito was talking about Kakashi.

Why, she didn't know. Hinata did know that they needed to find out. So she nudges Shino awake. The nice thing about Shino was that he controlled insects. So he was really good at gathering information.

"Mmm what is it?" He yawns and looks at her in confusion as his eyes slowly opened.

Well at least she thought they opened. It was kinda hard to tell. The boy wore sunglasses, even when it was raining.

She didn't really know why. Hinata just knew that it had something to do with his Clan. Maybe, she'd ask him later. It was just really hard to get answers out of people, when you were already shy and they were naturally quiet!

She bites her lower lip and points towards Team Cool. "Yeah?" That's when Shino's posture suddenly changed.

Hinata couldn't see it, but she was sure that his eyes had narrowed as well. Shino knew that something was up. Shino was perceptive enough to realize that the whole team wouldn't be up this early and whispering, if something wasn't up!

"I'm on it!" He sends a butterfly over to spy on them and Hinata smiles.

Their team might not have been the loudest, but the Dream Team was definitely good at working together. They hadn't been on the same team very long, but the one thing they did have was teamwork.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru notices the butterfly and he seemed smart enough to put two and two together. He looks right at them and yawns. Hinata didn't catch what he said, but she knew when someone was warning someone else and that was definitely the case here.

"We're being spied on." The lazy genius glances at his team.

Obito twitches. "What makes you say that?" Hinata sees the twitch and gulps. This wasn't good.

Shikamaru yawns again. "There is a butterfly in our section." He stretches as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Shino's Clan uses insects. Insects are great at intelligence gathering."

Shino pulls Hinata back a couple steps. "Stay behind me." Hinata nods dumbly. This could get ugly and fast.

That's when Kiba came over. This really, really wasn't good. "Spying on others isn't cool!" And to add to their problems, Akamaru was barking rather loudly at them to boot.

That was enough to wake everyone else up. Uh oh. Now, everyone was staring at them!

"Will you kindly shut your dog up?" Neji glares daggers at Kiba. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

The Inuzuka didn't take kindly to that. Hinata supposed that she should have seen this coming. Inuzkas were very protective of their furry friends.

Kiba predictably gets in his face. "What'd you say to me, Girlie Boy?!" Girlie Boy? What did that even mean?

"Friend Kiba!" Lee bounds over and gets between him and Neji. "Please let your heart be at ease! For the Power of Youth and Friendship is stronger than any temporary annoyance!" He flashes him a blindingly bright smile.

Choji sighs and stands beside Kankuro. Clearly, the chip lover knew what was going to happen. A fight was about to break out and this was one that Hinata didn't know, if the teachers were going to be able to break up!

"This is bad." Kankuro looks around warily.

Uh oh! It looked like Team Awesome was waking up. That really wasn't good!

"Will someone shut that stupid dog up?!" Hidan glares at the adorable puppy.

Jugo leaps to Akamaru's defense though. "He's just a puppy!" And yes, Akamaru was just an adorable puppy! Hinata didn't know how anyone could yell at him.

It looked like at least two of Team Best's people had had quite enough of this though. It didn't escape Hinata's notice that Pain was now leading Konan off. Where he was taking her, he didn't know.

She seemed to be going along with it willingly enough though. So Hinata figured she wasn't in trouble. Right now, they had bigger problems to worry about. Like how to keep this from turning into mean fight!

"Art is going to be explosion!" Deidara jumps up and down menacingly. "If you all don't shut up!"

Kisame was less than impressed by that though. "Are you threatening us, Blondie?" He raises an eyebrow. "Because I know that you aren't that stupid!"

Hinata winces. She could only hope that the adult would wake up soon and end all this fighting. She didn't want anyone to get hurt!

* * *

Meanwhile Saiden watches from a safe distance. "Perfect." He couldn't help, but smirk.

It seemed that the children were already doing exactly as he had planned. He just had to wait a bit longer for true chaos to break out and then he would head to the Sound Village. From there, it wouldn't take him long to take over.

The Sound Ninjas would be more than a match for the Leaf, once their strongest fighters were either little more than toddlers or distracted by caring for them. It was the perfect plan.

He'd change them back later and bind them to him somehow. There were many promising Jutsus he could use. There were so many Jutsus that could play with the mind.

"There's even a chance that they might turn on the Leaf at this rate." He could already tell that at least one team had its suspicions. That was very good.

Things would be much easier, if he could sway them to his side and get them to fight for him. Of course, he wasn't counting on that. At least not yet. That was where the Sound Village came in.

This was it. Finally, Lord Orochimaru's dreams of immortality and dominion would be realized. Ironically, the boy who had killed him would help the Legendary Sannin accomplish his goals in the end.

He chuckles. "Such a delicious irony that is." Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, but he was helping him.

Though the youngest Uchiha wasn't his only concern. Some of those kids would grow up to be geniuses. Itachi and Shikamaru were the ones who stuck out most in this regard. There was also Neji and Temari to consider as well though.

Actually, now that he thought about it…there were very few children in that group that he could honestly classify as simple. That could a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how he played his cards.

"That's alright though." He had waited this long. "I'll just have to account for every possibility."

Which was fine. Those children were far from the only geniuses in the world. Saiden certainly hadn't gotten where he was based on brute strength alone. No. It had been his intelligence that had done it.

So accounting for every possibility would be taxing, but it was something he could do. It was something that he **must** do. After all, Lord Orochimaru's legacy was at stake and he wouldn't let him down!

* * *

Back with the children, the adults were slowly starting to wake up. Thankfully, Tenten was now standing by Neji. Which was good.

Her cousin tended to calm down whenever Tenten was by him, Hinata had noticed. She supposed that they were now friends or something. Good. Neji needed more friends. He was always so sad and grumpy lately.

"We might want to get out of there, before this get worse." The brunette looks at them and the rest of her team in concern.

Hinata could already see the other girl was trying to reach for something to use as weapons. Not that she could entirely blame her. Team Awesome and Team Best were certainly ready to go at it.

Sai smiles creepily. "Why are you all fighting? Is it because you all have small paintbrushes?" Hinata blinks at that.

Alright. Sai was well unusual to say the least. She didn't really understand the reclusive artist, but she decides to ponder that another day.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Tsunade runs into the room.

They were in trouble! Tsunade seemed to be the one in charge of everything. If she was mad, that was bad. Very bad!

"Mirai, are you okay?!" Kurenai races over to her daughter in alarm.

Ino smiles at her. "It's okay, Kurenai Sensei." It seemed the blonde and pink haired girl had been watching her. "Sakura and I have got her!"

Deidara and Kisame either didn't hear Tsunade or didn't care. Those two were now screaming at each other and shoving each other! This wouldn't end well!

"Yeah!" The blonde boy glares at him. "I did! You Team Awesome people think you're so awesome!" He flails his arms dramatically. "Well you're not! Obviously, Team Best is best!"

Gaara shakes his head. It was obvious that the red head had had quite enough of this. "Sand Gag!" A bit of sand goes flying at Deidara and wraps around his mouth, gagging him.

Kakuzu sighs. "Alright. I hate to admit it, but that was pretty awesome!" He smiles at the Sand Boy.

It probably tasted horrible though. Hinata couldn't imagine having sand shoved up against your mouth that way. Yuck! Just yuck!

"You alright, Gaara?" Temari glances over to her sibling with concern and more than a little worry.

That was weird. Why was the blonde girl so afraid of her own brother? Nevermind. Hinata decides to file that firmly under the I Don't Want to Know Category and to leave it at that for the time being.

The red head nods. "Yes, I am." He smiles. "It's quite now."

Sasuke and Itachi shoot the Sand Lover looks of approval. Clearly, the Uchiha Brothers appreciated the quiet. Speaking of quiet, that was kinda weird. Naruto hadn't said a word yet.

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto flails dramatically. "I don't know what's happening, but we woke up to Kiba's dog barking and everyone was fighting!"

Tsunade groans and smacks her forehead. Not that Hinata could blame her. It had to be exhausting trying to corral everyone.

Kakashi chuckles as he walks over to her and places his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, I know." Obviously, the other adult wanted to comfort her. "I'm sure that Ibiki is working on it and that everything will be back to normal in no time."

Back to normal? What was he talking about? Everything was normal. Right? Well other than her not being in the Hyuga Estate and everyone's parents being on vacation. That was pretty odd.

Well now that she thought about it, Hinata supposed the situation really wasn't normal and the adults did seem to be pretty stressed. She couldn't help, but wonder what was going on.

"Karin, why is your team being so whispery!" Though she was soon interrupted from that line of thought by the sounds of Suigetsu and Karin fighting. "It's totally not cool to keep secrets!"

Those two were always fighting. It was like cats and dogs. The only ones who fought more were Sasuke and Naruto, really. Hinata was pretty sure they'd either end up killing each other or getting married.

Of course, she kept that thought to herself. The Hyuga Princess had no wish to get in the middle of that. That would just be asking for it!

Karin twitches. "Oh yeah? Well neither is naming your team, Team Awesome!" She crosses her arms and huffs. "That is so lame!"

Iruka shakes his head. "Alright. Everyone gather up your team and make sure to bind their hands and feet!" Hinata blinks at that. What?!

She soon found out that he wasn't joking. Complete chaos broke out as the adults tried to grab the kids and cuff their hands and feet. Hinata had to say that everyone put up a valiant fight, but eventually the adults cheated.

"THAT'S CHEATING!" Naruto glares as the adults use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to tip the odds in their favor.

Hinata was inclined to agree, but that didn't change the situation. They were all tied up and being moved to another room. Well actually, they were being moved outside. What were the adults up to?!

* * *

About a half hour later, everyone was outside and bound as the adults were closely monitoring their teams. To say the least, none of the other children looked entirely pleased about this situation.

"It seems that we have some rivalries forming between the teams!" Guy paces as he gestures dramatically to everyone. "That's only to be expected. The Power of Youth is strong and tends to lend itself to a rather competitive spirit!"

Hinata didn't really get what he was talking about, but she nods. That was okay though. Most of the time, she had no idea what Team Best's Sensei was talking about. He was a bit eccentric!

Kurenai sighs. "That's putting it rather mildly." She smiles at them. "So we thought that it would be good to do some team building exercises."

Hinata blinks. She wasn't really sure what they meant by that. So the adults wanted to find a way to make them all get along. She wasn't sure that such a thing was possible, but she was willing to try almost anything at this point.

They couldn't keep fighting like this. That would only end in disaster. So they had to do something! Maybe, the exercises would help!

Tsunade nods in agreement. "So what we're going to do is we're going to have everyone from the teams draw straws. Whoever gets the biggest straw on each team will be the Captain for this exercise." She sighs dramatically. "Hopefully, we will only need to do one exercise though."

A bunch of straws put into four cups and Kakashi takes the cups around. Everyone was told to choose one straw. So everyone did. So far, everything looked okay from Hinata's point of view.

It took about five minutes, but eventually the temporary team captains were determined. The results were surprising to say the least.

"Alright Team A will be lead by Gaara. Team B, Sai will taking the reigns for this exercise. Team C will be represented by Ino. And finally, Team D's captain will be…Hinata."

Hinata blinks. She was made captain?! Oh God! Oh God! What was she going to do?! She didn't know how to be captain! What if she messed up?!

"It's alright, Hinata." Neji smiles at her. "Just think of it as good practice for when you lead the Clan." Oh right. He had a point there.

Guy smiles and strikes a dramatic pose. That only filled Hinata with more dread though. This might not end well.

"So the exercise will be simple. Each team will be given another team where you will consult with the other members of your team to find one compliment for every member of the other team! Say something nice!" He smiles brightly at them.

Oh. Well that wasn't that bad. How hard could it be? Hinata lets out the breath that she hadn't realized that she had been holding. She had been worried over nothing, it seemed.

Kurenai smiles. "So Team A, you will have to find something nice to say about all the members of Team C." Oh well that was good.

Team Awesome immediately proceeds to huddle. There was a lot of whispering going on and Hinata saw more than one sand gag be made. Apparently, that was the fastest way that Gaara knew how to make people listen.

"Alright! We're ready!" Naruto grins. "Believe it!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "You're such an idiot." The youngest Uchiha was apparently not very impressed by his "friend's behavior." "Gaara is the leader. Not you! He'll say when we're ready!"

Itachi chuckles and shakes his head. To Hinata, it seemed like he was used to fights like this and he probably was. He knew his brother better than anyone. Well at least as far as she oculd tell.

Gaara shakes his head. "Team C consists of Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai." The red head looked like he was going to attempt to finish this exercise with some dignity. "For Obito, we settled on Uchiha." Gaara smiles.

Obito blinks. "Um yeah. I mean I am, but that's a compliment?" The boy looked confused.

Kakashi chuckles. "I suppose that it is in Sasuke's and Itachi's mind. Anyway, please continue, Gaara."

Gaara nods. Hinata giggles. Well she supposed it was a compliment in a way, family pride.

"For Sakura, bubblegum. She reminds our team of bubblegum. Kiba is…brave? Karin is assertive. Temari is feisty. Shikamaru is smart. Ino is flowery?" Right. They had clearly struggled.

Tsunade shakes her head in amusement. Well it looked like Team Awesome had tried. Hinata wasn't really sure that they had succeeded, but it as the thought that counted!

"And now it is Team B's turn to compliment…Team D." Kurenai smiles.

Sai smiles pleasantly and Hinata winces. Whatever he was about to say was likely to be brutal. That was not a kid who was playing with a full kunai set.

"We'll need a few minutes to discuss the options." He smiles and Team Best soon huddles. It took several minutes, but apparently they had settled on something!

"Right so the Dream Team is made up of Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro." Sai smiles. "We started with Hinata. She's quiet. Shino is super quiet. Choji is friendly. Lee is energetic. Neji is smart. Tenten is strong. Kankuro is…unique?" He beams happily at his choices.

Kankuro grumbles. It was clear that he perceived unique as an insult. Hinata sighs and shakes her head. Well she supposed there were worse things to be called than quiet.

Iruka smiles and gestures for Team Cool to begin. Team Cool also whispers amongst themselves for several minutes before coming up with something. It seemed that this was a really hard exercise for some people!

"Who did we get?" Ino smiles.

"You got Team B." Kakashi smiles back at her and then Ino proceeds to give their answers.

Ino nods as she gets ready to proceed. It was obvious that the other girl took this very seriously. Hinata could see it in her eyes.

She grins. "Alright so Team Best has Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai. Deidara is um…fun, Jugo is kind. Konan is smart. Pain is loyal. Kakuzu is good with money. Zetsu is one of a kind. Sai is…artistic?" Ino smiles.

At the last part, Deidara protests. Clearly, the blonde thought he was more artistic. Hinata sighs. This was going to be a very long day. They were even fighting over team building exercises!

"That's very nice. Hinata, you're up." Tsunade smiles kindly at her. "And you got…Team A."

Hinata gulps. Oh boy. This was a tough one. She quickly huddles with her team.

"Alright. So what do you guys think?" She looks at them expectantly.

Neji shrugs. "Kisame is obviously fish." Sadly, Hinata couldn't disagree with that.

Though the fun times didn't stop there. It seemed everyone wanted a chance to weigh in on everyone else. Including Tenten.

"The Uchiha Brothers are adorable who close they are." Tenten smiles. "Of course, Neji is even more so."

Neji blushes at that and Hinata giggles. Yes, Tenten really, really liked her cousin. They must be good friends!

Lee pauses. "Well Gaara is definitely strong." Hinata nods. There was no arguing that.

Kankuro chuckles. "Hidan is funny in a way?" Yeah. She could go with that.

Hinata smiles. "And we'll just say determined for Naruto." That seemed like a good idea.

After a few moments of debate, the Dream Team was ready to reveal their final answers. The Hyuga Heiress felt oddly excited about that.

"We're ready." She beams at everyone. "The Uchiha Brothers are adorable. We both game them the same thing."

Suigetsu blinks. "Is that allowed?" He looks at Tsunade.

Tsunade shakes her head in amusement. Hinata probably should have asked. Damn it. Maybe, she had messed up!

"I'll allow it." She chuckles and it was then that Hinata saw the brothers blushing. Which only made her blush. "There was no rule against it."

Hinata nods. "Naruto is determined. Gaara is strong. Hidan is funny. Kisame is like a fish. Oh wait. We forgot Suigetsu. Hmm…he's playful." She smiles.

Kakashi chuckles. Well chuckling was good. Hinata supposed that meant that they hadn't messed it up then.

"Well I think that this exercise has helped a lot." He sighs. "Remember, you're all comrades here. So try to get along."

Hinata wasn't really sure what a comrade was, but she figured it was like a friend. There was some grumbling from the other kids, but it seemed like no one really wanted to argue when they were cuffed.

Kurenai smiles. "Good. Let's just consider this a fresh start to Ninja Day Care!" She giggles.

"Ninja Day Care?" Tsunade demands incredulously.

The Genjutsu Mistress just shrugs. "What else would you call it, My Lady?" She smiles. "If the sandal fits, wear it."


	8. A Golden Opportunity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunade and the other adults realize that this could actually be a golden opportunity as everyone else continues plotting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

The next day, Sai was outside with the other children and observing his surroundings cheerfully as he starts drawing. It was a beautiful day and things seemed to have settled down.

Well other than Team Cool. Those ones were always whispering with each other. Well them and the Sand Siblings.

"Hmm. Going to need more red paint!" He smiles happily as he toddles off to get some more art supplies.

Not surprisingly, he saw Deidara was getting some paint too. He was a fellow artist. Granted, Deidara seemed to revel in painting gory scenes more than Sai did, but that was okay. He recognized fellow artist when he saw some.

"What color do you want?" Deidara grins at him. "Yeah?"

Sai smiles. "Red!" He was going to need a lot of red. "For the hearts!" Yep. There were definitely going to be a lot of hearts in his painting.

Deidara grins as if that was just a genius idea. For a moment, Sai wondered, if maybe he could make a friend. That was until Jugo ambles over and looks more than a little concerned.

"You want more red for blood again, don't you?" He eyes the eccentric blonde in a rather wary fashion.

The Team Best Member nods his head eagerly. Sai blinks. Apparently, this was a thing. He didn't know how to react to that knowledge.

Deidara shrugs. "Well he wants red for hearts. So I guess he's going to paint people getting their hearts ripped out or something! Yeah!" He grins at Sai. "That would be so awesome!"

Luckily Kankuro comes over to "rescue" Jugo. "You're psychotic! Come on, Jugo. Let's go back to our team. You know, where the normal people hang out!" And with that the Puppet Master tugs him off.

Sai did know one thing though. "Well I'm gonna go get started on my hearts." He takes a tub of red paint. "Have fun!" He was getting out of there because Deidara scared the Hell out of him.

He smiles as he watches Hinata play with her team. Shockingly, Gaara ambles over. He was still holding Mr. Squishy tightly against his chest.

"You did good." He nods at her with his arms wrapped tightly around the bear.

It had probably taken all of Gaara's courage to actually walk over to her. Sai smiles and make a mini Hinata and Gaara with a heart around it. In his mind, it was a masterpiece.

Hinata squeaks and blushes. "T-Thank you." Sai shakes his head at this. He had no idea how someone that shy could be a Team Captain.

"What are you shaking your head about?" Zetsu pops up out of nowhere.

His team was a bit strange, but that was alright. At least it wasn't as boisterous as Team Awesome, sneaky like Team Cool, or Meek like the Dream Team. Sai was just fine where he was. Thank you, very much.

He smiles and shows him the picture. "Just making a Class Portrait." And that was the truth.

"A Class Portrait?" Kakuzu raises an eyebrow as he heads over to have a look at it.

Sai nods as he shows more of the picture to his teammates. He had drawn hearts around a few of his classmates. Naruto and Sasuke, Itachi and Kisame, Gaara and Hinata, Sakura and Lee, Tenten and Neji, and finally Shikamaru and Temari.

"I don't know. That's kinda weird." Kakuzu muses. "You've got a couple hearts around two boys."

As if magically summoned by the word hearts, Lee bounds over happily. "Good morning, friends! The Power of Youth is strong today!" Sai blinks.

This kid was even stranger than him and that was saying something. Why was he always going on about the Power of Youth? It didn't make any sense to him.

Konan and Pain blink from what Sai considers to be a safe distance. Obviously, the two Team Best Members, had decided to stay out of this one. That was probably a wise move on their part.

Oh wait. That reminded him. He quickly draws a heart around those two. Yeah. They were also a Heart Set.

At this point, Kisame and Itachi wander over. This just further proves Sai's point. Clearly, they were in love. Yep!

The only person that Itachi spent more time around than Kisame was his brother. So that just had to be love. There was no doubt about that.

"What do you mean hearts can't be around boys?" Itachi tilts his head in confusion.

As if to proves his point, Sasuke scrambles over. Those two were really inseparable. It was more like they were twins than just regular brothers. Well at least that was the case in Sai's opinion.

"Well you idiots, hearts are supposed to be for boys and girls. Mostly girls though." Hidan strides over.

Sai didn't really know what to make of Hidan. The other boy certainly had a foul mouth. At times, he could be funny. Like Deidara though, the artist was almost positive that he was legitimately insane.

Sakura, Ino, and Karin hear that. The girls of Team Cool were less than pleased. Sai wasn't' stupid. He hides behind a tree.

"What do you mean hearts are mostly for girls?!" They glare at Hidan.

* * *

Meanwhile Saiden smirks as he gets back to the Sound. This was going to take awhile, but that was alright. He had time.

"You're all going to follow my orders." He knew that this was going to be vexing. "I'm the one who will carry on Orochimaru's legacy!"

There were of course gales of laughter and cries of outrage. Some of his fellow Sound Ninjas, even had the audacity to attack him. Sadly, he had predicted this.

"Because I have the Fountain of Youth Jutsu!" And with that, he casts his newly designed Jutsu at the ones attacking him.

Immediately, they were turned into children and everyone's eyes go wide. Yes. That should do it. No one would question his leadership now. He was sure of it!

He smirks. "Are there anymore objections to my taking over Orochimaru's role as our leader?" Saiden looks around as if he was going to use his new Jutsu again. "Because I'd be more than happy to continue this discussion further, if anyone has concerns."

Thankfully, no one else objected. Life was good. Life was very good.

"No, Master Saiden!" He hears someone shout and the rest of the Sound Villagers soon ring out the same chant.

Master Saiden. He liked the sound of that. He'd keep that one. Now, he had some plotting to do.

After all, world domination didn't just happen. One had to plan carefully. And that just happened to be something that he was very good at.

* * *

Back at the Academy, Sai watches as the girls get into an argument with Hidan about hearts. Apparently, this was a controversial topic. He didn't get it.

"A man with a large paintbrush doesn't care what kind of paintbrush other people like." He smiles serenely.

Well at least Sai thought that it was a serene smile. His fellow children, apparently didn't think so. Though it looked like Naruto was coming over. That only made sense. Wherever Sasuke went, the blonde was bound to follow.

He looks at Sai in confusion. "What are you talking about paintbrushes for?" His blue eyes looked so innocent, but Sasuke was looking at him suspiciously.

Hmm. It would be fun to mess with them. "Just talking about brushes. Apparently, you and Sasuke like to share em!" He grins.

Sasuke twitches, but Obito races over. It looked like the eldest Uchiha was actually going to defend him. Hmm. That was interesting. Sai didn't see that coming.

Why was Obito defending him from his own family? Did that mean that the other boy wanted to be friends? Sai could use some friends! For some reason, he had trouble making them!

"Sai, stop teasing my cousin about his paintbrush!" Obito gives him a dirty look.

Oh. Maybe, not. Then again, he might just be saying that so Sasuke didn't throw a fit.

"Looks like we're in for one Hell of a show, eh Itachi?" Kisame grins at the middle Uchiha.

Itachi raises an elegant eyebrow and shakes his head in amusement. Seriously, Sai didn't know eyebrows could be elegant, but apparently they could. They weren't the only people coming over though.

Shino, Kiba, and Choji were now heading over. Everyone was gathering around his painting! That made him so happy! He was going to be famous one day!

"Guys, be careful." Suigetsu flails as he walks over. "The adults are watching us."

The adults were watching them? Uh oh. That wasn't good. Whenever adults watched children too closely, that usually meant they were in trouble!

Shikamaru sighs as he watches everything from his position of standing next to Jugo and Kankuro. Apparently, they had decided that they had quite enough of all the excitement.

Sai looks around and notices that the adults were whispering to each other as they kept watching them. Yeah. That couldn't be a good sign. He knew that much!

* * *

Kakashi sighs as he looks back at the children. "What are we going to do with them?" That was the question that was weighing most heavily on his mind.

"Well you know this does actually present a golden opportunity." Iruka smiles.

This prompts the silver haired ninja to raise an eyebrow. He had no idea what Iruka was talking about. How could this be a golden opportunity.

Kurenai smiles. Well it seemed that the Genjutsu Mistress seemed to have some sort of idea where the Chunin was going with this. Which was good, because he was at a complete loss.

Her ruby red eyes drift towards the members of her team fondly. "They're just children now. The future need not be set in stone. True we can't change the fact that some of them have wracked up high body counts, but we could redeem them."

Oh. So that's what they were suggesting. To the CopyCat Ninja, the idea was completely crazy. There were so many ways that it could go wrong.

Unfortunately, Tsunade seemed to be pondering the suggestion rather seriously. Damn it. He'd have to interject here.

"I don't know what happened to Obito, but as for the others we know how their story will go. Say that we convince them to all get along, there is no guarantee that they'll even remember this when they turn back." Kakashi sighs. Surely, they could see how futile such an effort was and that was looking at things from a rather charitable perspective!

Guy smiles brightly. "The Power of Youth is incredible!" Uh huh. "We'll find a way to turn them all into good guys and girls!" He grins.

Kakashi mentally groans. Guy was his best friend. Though there were certainly times when his eternal optimism bordered on delusion. This was just one of those times.

Normally, it didn't' matter much. They were playing with fire though. There was no telling what was going to happen to any of these children.

"What are we going to do about Saiden?" Kurenai bites her lower lip in concern. "He did escape."

Iruka nods and Kakashi knew that the Genjutsu Mistress's concern was justified. While he didn't get the impression that Saiden was dangerous by himself, he was certainly wielding a very powerful Jutsu. One that could do a lot of damage.

Tsunade sighs and shakes her head. "We've got as many ANBU out looking for him as we can spare." That wasn't particularly reassuring, but Kakashi knew it was the best they could do at the moment.

* * *

Back with the children, Gaara shakes his head at all the chaos and drags Hinata off. Sai chuckles at this. Yeah. The heart was definitely earned.

The red head probably thought that he was protecting Hinata from the craziness or something. A silly notion. Ninja Day Care seemed to exist in a constantly chaotic state!

"It's safer here." Gaara forms a large sand castle and gestures for his siblings to join them. "They're all crazy."

Hinata blinks and looks around in awe at the sand castle. "You made this all by yourself?" Gaara nods.

Temari and Kankuro quickly head over to join Gaara. Though the feisty blonde drags Shikamaru behind her. "What a drag!" He flails. "I didn't say that I wanted to go to the castle!"

Sai chuckles. Well it was clear who wore the pants in that relationship. Anyway, he had more drawing to do.

It looked like the adults weren't actually going to do anything. Unfortunately, it was getting rather crowded. This was uncomfortable!

Obito shakes his head. "We're going to have to have a meeting. We can look at Sai's picture later." That was interesting.

It looked like Obito had some kind of plan. Though what kind, Sai didn't know. He supposed that was why it was so interesting.

Suigetsu shrugs. "Well we're all mostly here." He smiles. "Might as well get it over with and we can tell the others later."

Obito pauses, but nods after a moment. It was strange. Why were people so hesitant to just say what was on their minds? Very small paintbrushes, he supposed.

Sai preferred large paintbrushes. Big strokes. That way you covered more of the canvas!

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Obito sighs. "Well Team Cool and the Sand Siblings already know this, but I think that it's time everyone else knew too."

Sakura raises an eyebrow. "Time that we all knew what?" Clearly, she wanted to know just as much as Sai did.

Though perhaps, most disturbingly was the fact that Lee was trying to place a crown of flowers upon her head. "Lee!" Sakura gives him a look. "This is important! We need to focus!"

The pink haired girl certainly didn't seem to appreciate this. Though Sai supposed that she was right. They did need to focus.

"The flower crown is nice, but she's right ." Karin shrugs as she shoves her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "What's going on, Obito?"

That was a habit that she often indulged in. Sai supposed that it had something to do with the fact the glasses were obviously too big for her. It was like they were designed for an adult. So why she had them, well that was frankly beyond his comprehension at the moment.

"Well something weird is going on." Obito around nervously. "I mean, I remember Kakashi. He's supposed to be my age, but he's an adult."

There were gasps heard from the other children. Well at least the ones who weren't in Team C, Sai thinks to himself. Then again, the eldest Uchiha had told them that Team Cool already knew about this. So that made sense.

Kakuzu frowns. "So what are you trying to say?" Yeah. That's exactly what Sai wanted to know too!

"I'm saying that I think someone turned us back into children and wiped most of our memories." Obito frowns. "I don't know why though."

That causes Neji frown as well. "Well we know that Obito at a minimum is Kakashi's age." The Hyuga Prodigy glances back at the CopyCat Ninja. "Which means Obito is more than old enough to have made some enemies and the same probably goes for the rest of us."

Sai blinks as he tries to process that. He knew exactly what Neji was saying. Almost anyone could have wanted to hinder their abilities. What better way to do that short of killing them than by turning them into small children?

"So someone turned us into kids." Kisame growls. "Well we gotta figure out who did it and why."

Itachi nods. "And how to turn ourselves back, of course." Kisame nods approvingly as he plays with Itachi's hair.

Itachi gives him a dirty look. "What are you doing with my hair, Kisame?" The blue skinned boy just grins sheepishly.

Oh boy. Sai could tell that this was probably going to turn into a fight. Messing with Itachi's hair probably wouldn't end well for the shark toothed kid. Shark teeth or not, there was something about Itachi Uchiha that was pretty scary. Sai didn't know what it was, but it was there!

"Eh, I can't help it." The shark lover smiles. "It's just so pretty."

Itachi twitches and Sasuke laughs. Yep. This wasn't going to end well. Soon enough, Itachi was chasing after Kisame rather angrily and Sasuke claps, encouraging his elder brother to, "Get the FishFace!"

Obito shakes his head. "Right. Well that was weird." Sai could only nod in agreement.

"Well if you knew Kakashi from before, he might have the most information about everything." Ino nods.

Hmm. That was new. Sai didn't expect the blonde girl to come up with a real plan. Maybe, she was smarter than her doll-like image would imply!

Very interesting! He would have to investigate this matter more thoroughly later. For now, they had a mission that required his attention more so than the Mystery of the FlowerGirl!

Deidara wanders back over. "I wanna know what's going on too!" He grins as he holds up his bloody paintings. "Yeah?! See, I'll even show you the paintings!"

Sai shakes his head. Yeah. Deidara had lost his mind, but that wasn't what was important, right now. They needed to focus. It was just that was extremely hard to do when there were so many people around!

Obito nods. "Yes, that's true." Obviously, he was going to make an effort to sniff out Kakashi more.

"I'll have my insects tail the adults." Shino nods his head seriously.

Well that was nice. It seemed even BugBoy was getting in on the act. Really, there was something warm and fuzzy about them all rallying together for a common cause.

Maybe, there really was something to those team building exercises after all. Sai smiles fondly at the thought. He had even been a captain for that one. He liked being captain!

Suddenly, a puppy barks excitedly and Sai sneezes. "Arf! Arf!" Uh oh. Maybe, he was allergic to dogs.

"Don't worry!" Kiba smirks. "I'll have Akamaru do the same." He rubs the canine's ears. "He's never let me down before. I doubt he's going to start now!"

Well he really was such a cute puppy. Sai just wished that he would stop making him sneeze so much. Silly dog!

Suddenly, Konan and Pain make their way over. "We've been listening the whole time." Konan smiles. "We've strategically bugged the playground."

They had? That was brilliant! Brilliant, but scary. Sai makes a mental note not to mess with those two. They were dangerous. One never knew what Pain and Konan might be up to! They were such sneaky plotters!

Thank goodness, Pain and Konan were on their side. Sai didn't want to think about what would have happened to all of them, if that hadn't been the case. Oh wait. He was getting off track here!

"Oh right." Obito rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Of course you have." It was obvious that the eldest Uchiha was just as freaked out as he was though.

"We think that it would be best to start planning escape strategies." Pain nods.

Escape strategies? To where? Where would they go and why? It didn't seem like they were in any real danger. They had been here for awhile and none of the adults had made any serious attempts to harm them.

Sai just didn't understand. Then again, this was Konan and Pain. Those two had always been weird. And that was saying something considering Ninja Day Care had only a handful of normal students.

Well he wasn't sure that they were really students. "Where would we go?!" Naruto voices the question that had been weighing on Sai's mind with ease.

That was one of the nice things about Naruto. He wouldn't hesitate to say whatever was bugging him. That much was for certain.

"I don't know. Away." Konan shrugs.

Pain nods as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "That's right. Away." Right. That explains everything, Sai thinks to himself sarcastically. "Somewhere safe." Seriously, was everyone in this Day Care nuts? Because it was really starting to look that way!


	9. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children escape from the Academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I'm sorry that this one is late. I got sidetracked by some of my other stories. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: This chapter is shown from multiple perspectives. It's also an extremely silly chapter. So it's best not to question too much how the Chibi Army defeated the adults so easily and just embrace the crazy nature of this story ;). If you do choose to take this one seriously though, well that's going to be a drag as Shikamaru is so fond of saying!

Gaara was less than thrilled about sharing his Sand Castle at the moment. He was trying to make a friend and his sister was ruining it. Hmpf!

"I got a plan!" Deidara grins. "Yeah!"

Wonderful. The blonde psyucho had a plan. And why did that idiot always say yeah at the end of every sentence?

Obviously, Gaara was going to have to use his sand to shield Hinata from that crazy artist. It was the best way to protect her from said craziness.

Itachi shakes his head as he looks at Deidara. "Alright." He sighs as though he knew what was coming. "I'm going to regret this, but what's your plan?" And here, Gaara thought his teammate was smarter than that.

Asking Deidara for his plan was like asking a fox what he wanted to do in a hen house. Honestly! He was only six, but even he knew better than that! What on Earth was Itachi thinking?!

"Well obviously, we get some explosive tags." Deidara grins as if such a suggestion was the most natural thing in the world. "The explosions will provide a distraction and then, we will run off!"

Sasuke shakes his head and looks at Naruto. "Even you're more subtle than that." Naruto nods his head in agreement.

Though that didn't last long. Apparently, the other blonde had finally processed what his rival had just said. And what it meant.

"HEY!" Naruto flails at Sasuke. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Gaara shakes his head at this and forms some earplugs out of sand for himself and the princess.

It was that or else, they'd have to risk going deaf. "Here. Wear these." At the moment, it was the only way to protect her hearing. "It'll make things quieter."

Hinata smiles and puts them in her ears. "Thank you." Yes, he was finally making a friend! This was good news! His mother would be so proud!

"It means you're a loudmouth." Sasuke shakes his head. "With no sense of stealth."

Obito shakes his head at the fighting and looks at Itachi. "Can two boys get married?" He looks at him.

Itachi pauses as he considers the answer to that question. "Um I think so." He tilts his head. "At least there aren't any laws against it, that I know of."

If there was no law against it, then it was legal. Right? Well at least that was his logic.

"Good!" Kisame beams at Itachi. "That's really good to know!" He glomps him.

Itachi twitches. This Shark Kid was invading his personal space! Itachi really didn't like it when people did that!

"Yo, you might wanna get off him before he kicks your ass!" Hidan laughs.

That was the wrong thing to say. Kisame immediately grabs a rather large stick and chases off after Hidan. The most foulmouthed of any of the children soon realizes he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

Neji shakes his head at the chaos. "EVERYONE, KNOCK IT OFF!" Obviously, someone had to take control. It might as well be him.

Kiba twitches at that. "HEY! Who made you the boss of us?!" He did because they were all acting like children, the Hyuga boy thinks to himself.

Well they were children, but that was really besides the point. If they were going to escape and find out what was going on, they had to focus. Not bicker amongst themselves like a bunch of fools!

"Hey!" Tenten tosses a plastic kunai at Kiba. "Don't yell at Neji!"

Lee nods his head and jumps up and down excitedly. "The Power of Youth doesn't like fights!" He strikes a dramatic pose and smiles at Sakura, handing her a rose.

Sakura blinks. "Um thanks, Lee." She smiles at the flower and sticks it in her hair.

Lee was a little weird to put it mildly, but he was being nice. That and the rose was really pretty. So Sakura was just gonna go with it for the moment!

Suigetsu shakes his head. "Alright, people! Focus!" He grins at everyone, displaying his sharp teeth. "So how are we gonna bust out of this place?!"

Pain nods as he looks at Konan. "We need to distract the adults somehow." Maybe, she'd have an idea.

Konan frowns as she considers this. "Well, we need to ensure that they're all distracted while we run." The bluenette pauses. "But first, we should gather some supplies before making a break for it."

At this Choji smiles as he munches on a bag of chips. He liked where this was going. Supplies meant food. Choji liked food!

"Don't worry!" He grins. "I can take care of that!"

Ino shakes her head at his exuberance. "Make sure to get at least some healthy food!" She points out.

Choji nods and toddles off. Well that was one thing taken care of, Pain muses to himself. Now, they still had to figure out what to do about the adults.

"We should all build off our strengths." Jugo smiles. "And combine to overwhelm them."

Karin tilts her head. "Alright, but how are we going to do that?" She points at Suigetsu. "We do have a lot of idiots in our midst!"

Suigetsu twitches at that and races over to the red headed girl. "YOU GOT A PROBLEM?!" He jumps up and down in a righteous fury.

Shikamaru shakes his head and sighs. "What a drag." He looks at Temari. "How are we ever going to make this work with everyone fighting each other?"

The feisty blonde girl shrugs. "Don't look at me." She looks over at Kankuro.

Kankuro blinks. Why were they looking at him that way?! He didn't do anything!

Oh right. They wanted an idea. "Well I guess the smartest thing we could do would be to have Gaara use his sand on everyone." Though that was always a gamble.

"That might not be the best idea." Zetsu rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "He usually only uses it when he's angry." He shivers at the thought of an angry Gaara.

"Yeah." Kakuzu nods in agreement. "It's always a bad idea to piss off the red heads."

Gaara, Karin, and even Jugo nods at that. "Jugo and Karin, why are you nodding your head at that?" Sai tilts his head. "You two don't have red hair!"

Karin glares at Sai! "I do too!" She rounds on him ready to beat him up for that!

Sasuke shakes his head. "I have to agree with Sai." He pauses thoughtfully. "It's more of a hot pink."

"Yeah." Obito nods his head in agreement. "It's definitely more of a hot pink." He had to agree with his cousin there.

Actually, Obito wasn't really sure if Itachi and Sasuke were his cousins. Still, they were all Uchihas. So that meant that they had to be related somehow. They had all agreed that it would be best just to call each other cousins to cut down headaches. It was too complicated otherwise!

"Well, if you think it's hot pink, then that's okay." Karin smiles at Sasuke sweetly. "Do you like pink?"

Sakura and Karin were both looking at him rather hopefully. "No." Sasuke shakes his head. "It's annoying." And they deflate.

Naruto blinks in confusion at that. Girls could be so weird sometimes. He didn't think he'd ever understand them.

"Girls are weird." He looks at Sasuke.

Sasuke nods in agreement. "You're right about that." Itachi watches the entire thing and chuckles.

He was going to have a blonde for a Brother-In-Law one day. Life could be strange sometimes. Whoever heard of a blonde Uchiha?

* * *

Kakashi shakes his head. This was ridiculous. He could envision a thousand ways that this would all end poorly, but they didn't have a choice.

"Kakashi, don't look so forlorn." Kurenai smiles at him reassuringly. "This is our chance to really help these kids."

He had always respected Kurenai, but obviously the woman was out of her mind. That was the thing. These weren't children. They were currently taking care of some of the deadliest ninjas of their era.

Sure, they were all adorable now. It wouldn't stay that way though. Well at leas the didn't think so.

"Tsunade, perhaps it would be best to conduct some thorough medical examinations on all of them?" There was no telling what that Jutsu might have actually done. "We need to see what their cells are doing."

Cell division was important here. If the cells were dividing normally, that might me they wouldn't become adults for years. If they weren't dividing, they might not age at all or this Jutsu could be fatal! If they were dividing rapidly, perhaps that meant it was a short-term Jutsu or again, it might age them fast and then kill them.

There were so many horrifying possibilities that they had yet to consider. "Yes, that would be a very youthful idea!" Guy agrees. Though it looked like at least his friend was now considering them.

That was something. Kakashi didn't like this situation. He didn't care for it in the slightest. Particularly when it came to Obito. How was his friend still alive?!

"I have to agree with Kakashi and Guy on this one." Asuma nods.

Tsunade sighs. "Yes, we'll have to look into it." Though clearly, she wasn't exactly looking forward to such an examination. Not that Kakashi could blame her.

Back to Obito though, the silver haired man had seen him get crushed under a boulder. He had literally given the CopyCat Ninja his eye! How was it possible that his former teammate was alive?

Part of him was overjoyed, but another part was wary. Something about this entire situation felt off. And it was up to them to figure out what was going on!

* * *

It took hours, but they had finally done it! Shikamaru was both impressed and a little disturbed at everyone's efficiency. This was either going to work or end really badly.

"What a drag." He sighs. "Time to watch the fireworks."

As if on cue, their instructors slowly made their way inside. A knife goes flying towards a rope. Thrown by Tenten, no doubt because it was deadly accurate. That girl was a little scary sometimes. She was way too good with deadly objects.

"What the Hell?" Tsunade blinks in confusion as she coughs. "A sack of flour?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The Akatsuki all yell in unison.

Most of them couldn't make very many clones yet, but they were prodigies and had figured this out. Itachi watches as the clones charge at the adults. Clones were one hit wonders, but they would buy them all some very precious time.

"Stop that!" Kakashi smacks one of the clones, dispelling it.

Obito smirks. He wasn't going to be defeated that easily. No. They were going to get out of here and no one was going to stop them! Not even Kakashi!

No, they wouldn't stop that! "ATTACK!" And clones did so in a frenzy.

"That's the signal!" Sakura smirks as she and Ino get out the bags of jelly beans. Lots and lots of bags of it. "Let's go!"

Ino nods her head in agreement. "GOT IT!" And so they open them and begin throwing them everywhere.

The adults were now stumbling all over the place. "THAT'S NOT VERY YOUTHFUL!" Guy shouts.

"Sorry, Guy Sensei!" Lee shouts as he and Sai were now throwing ballons at the adults.

Balloons that were filled with pain. Oh and now, Deidara was joining in on the fun. Lee felt guilty, but this had to be done! For freedom!

Kankuro wasn't to be outdone though. "Go get em!" He'd made quite a few puppets and they were now heading towards the adults.

Of course, they were a far cry from what he'd one day be capable of. Still, anything to distract them was necessary. That's when Gaara looks at the Uchihas.

"Cover me!" It was his turn to play, but first… they needed some firepower.

Literally. "FIREBALL JUTSU!" The Uchihas all breath out fireballs at the adults in perfect unison.

Gaara wasn't sure whether he should be disturbed or impressed. It was like they were robots or something. Whatever.

"SAND BURRIAL!" He sends the sand roaring towards the doors and windows, hoping to open them for the other children.

"Hey! Don't freaking burry us too!" Hidan glares at Gaara as he sends out another clone.

Damn these cones were pathetic. Even Kakuzu couldn't get them to last for more than one hit. This was ridiculous!

"Alright!" Kurenai knocks out another clone! "That's enough!"

Shino shakes his head. "Sorry, Kurenai Sensei." He unleashes a torrent of insects at the adults. "But we'll be going now!"

"This is insanity!" Iruka blinks in horror as he takes in the grisly scene before him.

Paint, jelly beans, sand, clones, puppets, fire, and God knows what else. It was like they were orchestrating some sort of attack. That couldn't be though. They were just children!

"Throw them!" Konan's voice rings out.

Naruto grins. "Everyone put your masks on!" And with that, he throws a small canister of something.

At first, he didn't know what it was. It didn't take long to figure it out though as some other people like Jugo, Pain, Kakuzu, and the like throw theirs. It was sleeping gas! Apparently, Itachi had made it somehow.

Naruto didn't know how and he didn't want to know how. Sometimes it was better not to ask too many questions. This was especially the case when you were dealing with Uchihas, he had noticed. Though he was still going to wipe that smug look off of Sasuke's face someday! Believe it!

The adults all fall asleep and everyone grabs their bag of supplies. "Alright everyone!" Obito smirks. "Let's move out!" And with that being said, everyone scurries through the now shattered windows or the door.

* * *

A few hours later, Tsunade groans as she wakes up to complete and utter devastation. "I can't believe this." Those kids had gotten away.

Well on second thought, she could believe it. These weren't just ordinary kids, after all. These were kids who were exceptional to say the least.

"Is everyone okay?" Iruka looks around in concern.

Tsunade was pretty sure everyone was okay, but it was a major blow to her pride. She was a Hojkage and she had gotten outsmarted by a bunch of kids. Still, there was no time to dwell on that.

Guy nods as he rises to his feet. "Yeah! The Power of Youth will not be defeated that easily!" He strikes a dramatic pose, causing Tsunade to rub the back of her head sheepishly.

Right. The Power of Youth. Tsunade still didn't understand what that meant, but moving on.

Kurenai sighs as she looks around. "This is going to take forever to clean up." Sadly, Tsunade couldn't disagree with the Genjutsu Mistress on that front.

There were jelly beans, flour, paint, puppets, sand, and who knows what else scattered everywhere. She doubted they'd be able to clean it up in time for Academy Classes tomorrow. Though that wasn't her main concern.

"We have to find them." Kakashi sighs. "Who knows what kind of trouble they could all get into out there?!"

That was her main concern. Kakashi was right. They had to find them. As soon as possible.

"Guy and Kakashi, I want you two to head out and search for them." The Sun was now setting, so it had been hours since they were knocked out. "They've got a head start on us, but they can't have gone too far."

Hopefully, not anyway. Itachi was already an Academy Graduate at this age. That or close to it. He could pose a very serious problem.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!" Kakashi and Guy quickly flit off upon hearing their orders.

Of course, that didn't solve the immediate problem. It was a start though. Unfortunately, Tsunade didn't see any other alternative.

"Kurenai, I want you to organize a meeting of all our Jonins and Chunins as soon as possible." They were simply going to have to inform the other ninjas of the Leaf Village what was going on.

Not the Genin of course. Tsunade wasn't going to let any wet behind the ears brats, deal with these brats. That would be far too cruel. Hell, she could barely handle them. So obviously, having Genin get involved would be a bad idea!

"Yes, My Lady!" And with that, the other female ninja swiftly departs.

Asuma and Iruka blink in confusion. "And what would you have us do, Lady Tsunade?" Hmm. That was a good point.

They were already briefed and Kurenai was organizing the meeting. That meant there was only one thing left to do. Clean Up Duty!

She gestures all around her towards the massive mess that the children had left. "I want you to clean this place up." She nods her head assertively. "From top to bottom." The busty blonde heads towards her office. "Try to make it presentable again." As she leaves, she hears the two men groan just smirks in response.

It was probably a minor abuse of power, but that didn't matter. There were times when it was very good to be Hokage. Like now, for instance.

* * *

Obito looks around nervously as they finally settled in the Forest of Death. This normally wasn't a place he would go, but it seemed like a good hideout. Who would be stupid enough to come here? Well besides them!

"Byakugan!" Neji and Hinata call out.

There were also some advantages to having two Hyugas in their number. Of course, the Byakugan was awesome. He still preferred his Sharingan, but he was happy that they had two Hyugas who could see long distances. It was definitely going to come in handy.

"Do you see anything?" Temari looks at Hinata.

Hinata shakes her head. "No. I think we're safe." It was hard not to feel safe when Gaara was standing right behind her. The things that boy could do with his sand were incredible!

Jugo was sending out some birds just to be on the safe side. This was a first. He was used to being locked up for everyone's safety, but here no one seemed to mind that he was Jugo of the Scales.

"How do you know what they've seen?" Naruto glances at the gentle giant curiously.

Jugo just smiles in response. "It's kinda hard to describe. It's an instinct." He gestures over to Sai who was already painting again. "Kinda like Sai and painting."

Naruto nods. "Oh right." The blonde pauses. "What's an instinct?"

Upon hearing that Sasuke snorts. He really was such a loser, but Naruto was his loser. Wait. Nevermind!

"So Itachi, you okay?" Kisame glances over at his friend worriedly.

The middle Uchiha nods. "Yes, I'm fine." He looks up at Kisame as he applies some purple fingernail polish.

"Right, well the smartest thing for all of us to do would be to make camp and divide up the Watches." Kiba nods.

Kakuzu nods in agreement. "I guess each Watch would be pretty short or we could have multiple people on each Watch." He waves his hand around. "We've got a lot of people here."

Hidan grins as though he was having the time of his life and that frankly freaked Kankuro out. Something majorly weird was up with this guy. Well actually, that described most of their new friends actually.

Some of these people made Gaara seem normal. That was pretty hard to do. His brother did have a Tailed Beast inside him!

"How are we going to decide who is on what shift?" Sai smiles pleasantly.

Well Temari supposed it was supposed to be a pleasant smile anyway. The kid was definitely forcing himself to smile. Maybe, he was just scared though.

Choji smiles at that. "We can just draw straws. Shortest straws go first." Yeah. That sounded like a good idea.

Ino looks in the bags. "Well if nothing else, we've got plenty of food. So we should be good for awhile." Upon hearing that, everyone sighs in relief.

Deidara was running around and looking in the bags curiously as well. Then again, Sasuke doubted that he ever wasn't running around and acting stupid. It was a Deidara thing.

"Sounds like a good idea!" He grins. "Yeah!"

Sasuke shakes his head. "That still doesn't tell us who did this." That was the biggest concern on his mind at the moment.

"We've also got a problem." Karin pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "We don't know how long this Jutsu is going to last or if it's permanent." Upon hearing this, everyone releases a collective groan.

No one wanted to be stuck as a child forever. Though none of them knew how old they were supposed to be, they all assumed they were adults or at least bigger when they were their true ages.

"That's not good." Sakura blinks.

She didn't know half of these people and they were in the Forest of Death. That would have been bad enough, but now they didn't know how long the Jutsu would last. With that in mind, she slinks closer to Lee.

At least Lee seemed to want to protect her. She'd probably be safer with him. Yeah.

"Everyone, let's just draw the straws and settle in for the night." Pain nods. "We can question some of the villagers in the morning.." That sounded like a good idea.

Konan nods in agreement. "We'll only send out a couple people though." She pauses and adds. "We wouldn't want to draw too much attention. The adults will come looking for us soon."

Everyone nods at this and draws straws. Soon enough, most of the camp was asleep. Gaara, Sai, Karin, and Lee drew the shortest straws and were thus stuck on the first watch.

"Don't worry!" Lee grins. "The power of Youth will keep us safe!"

Gaara twitches. Why did he have to draw the shortest straw? Now, he had to put up with this idiot. "I have the worst luck." He whispers as he clutches his bear tightly to his chest.

It wasn't as though he was going to get any sleep, anyway. Still, Gaara would have preferred to watch Hinata sleep. That or at least had guard duty with someone who wasn't going to blind him with his inhumanly white teeth. Why him?! What had he done to deserve this torture?!


	10. A Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children discover the Sand Village and hilarity ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Update schedule for this one is not entirely undetermined, but it will definitely start being updated again sometime in early Feb. 2018. Happy reading.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

"What do you see?" Obito glances at Hinata and Neji.

The two Hyugas had the Byakugan. Which made them tremendously useful in scouting. So far, it had been about two days since their "Jail Break" as Hidan called it. Which meant the adults were definitely looking for them by now.

"A village." Neji blinks in confusion.

A village?! What was he talking about?! There shouldn't be any village nearby!

Perhaps not surprisingly, it was Konan who spoke up first. "The Sound Village. It has to be the Sound." The Sound? Well that was a really dumb name for a village, Obito decides.

"That's a dumb name, yeah?!" Deidara laughs and Temari just shakes her head.

He was giving blondes everywhere a bad name. Not that Naruto was really helping much, but whatever. It was time for her to prove that blondes weren't dumb!

"The name doesn't matter." She glances over at Shikamaru. "What matters is whether or not they're likely to tell on us!"

That kid was kinda cute. He was so lazy though! Temari just wanted to get some kind of reaction out of him! Any reaction!

"They're going to freaking notice us if we all hang around by them!" Hidan tears into a piece of jerky. "So we should freaking leave before they do!"

Neji frowns as he nods in agreement, looking back at Hinata and Tenten. His cousin and the girl who was arguably the most sane of all the girls in this group who wasn't related to him. It was important to protect them and obviously staying, here wasn't going to do that.

"Maybe, we should send someone to look around." Kankuro suggests as he stares longingly at some of Choji's chips. "Hey, can I have some of those?"

Choji nods. "Sure!" He gives the puppet master some chips.

Itachi shakes his head this. Honestly, now was not the time to focus on food. They had to strategize.

"Shino, your insects can be used for spying, right?" The elder Uchiha Brother glances at him.

The bespectacled child nods. "Yeah. I'll send some butterflies over." And with that, he unleashes a colony of butterflies.

Kiba looks at the butterflies in confusion as they fly off. He really didn't get what a bunch of pretty insects were going to do, but apparently they were supposed to be spies.

"Wouldn't it be better to just send Akamaru?" He tilts his head.

"Arf!" Just like that, Akamaru chimes in. "Arf!"

Sakura smiles at the puppy, but she sticks close to Lee. This was the strangest thing that had ever happened to her and for whatever reason, the bushy browed boy was willing to be her Knight and Shining Armor.

She liked Sasuke, but he didn't pay much attention to her. "A dog would be more noticeable than a butterfly." That and Lee was really strong!

"Well she's got a point." Karin looks around, her senses on high alert. "As long as we don't send Sugietsu, we should be okay from a stealth perspective though."

Suigetsu obviously didn't care for that comment too much. "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?!" Team A was such an explosive mix, the red headed girl notes.

How did one place the Uchiha Brothers on the same team as this guy? It just didn't make any sense. The only justification she could see was that someone hadn't wanted to split the brothers up.

"WILL YOU BE QUIET?! YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE OUR LOCATION AWAY!" Ino screams.

Sai blinks as he watches the pretty girl scream like a banshee. Whoa. Girls could be scary sometimes, but that was a powerful Jutsu. The Banshee Shriek Jutsu!

Hmm. That was a good idea. He quickly begins a new painting while everyone continues bickering over the best course of action.

Shikamaru yawns. "This is such a drag." He didn't see why everyone was freaking out. "At least wait for the butterflies to get back before screaming."

Zetsu nods in agreement. There was at least some good news. They were in a forest. So it would be easy to hide, if it really came down to it.

"If worst comes to worst, we can escape into the forest." He nods.

Kisame nods his head in agreement. "Yeah! Flowerboy has as point!" He laughs.

Zetsu twitches. Flowerboy?! Seriously, why did everyone call him that! Did he look like he was wearing flowers?!

"Well how long do you think it will take for the insects to get back." Jugo looks at Shino.

Shino pauses as if to consider the question. "I'm not sure. It depends if they find anything worth spying on." he shrugs.

Gaara nods at that as he edges closer to Hinata and further away from Lee. There was a chance those ninjas in that village were enemies. So he and Mr. Squishy would just have to protect the princess and his siblings.

The red head knew that Temari and Kankuro were kinda scared of him, but that was okay. He couldn't let the wind up dead. If he did, their father would be very, very angry with him.

"So you can really see almost 360 degrees?" He smiles at Hinata.

Hinata nods. "It's a B-Byakugan thing." The young girl said as if that explained everything.

Sasuke nods at that. "It's a good thing." He glances at Naruto. "And don't do anything stupid while we wait for them to come back!"

Naruto flails. Why did Sasuke always have to be such a bastard?! Why couldn't he ever be nice to him?!

"Jerk!" He grumbles.

Itachi shakes his head. "Well all we can do is wait for now." He sighs and blinks as Kisame was messing with his hair again. "Kisame, my hair is not your toy." He sighs.

Honestly, he was surrounded by crazy people. He really needed to get to the bottom of all this and get Sasuke (and Obito) out of here. Who knew? The craziness of the group might actually be contagious!

* * *

Meanwhile Kakashi was on the case and looking for the children with Guy at his side. They had been searching for days, but he was determined to find them. He wasn't going to fail Obito again!

"So do you have any idea how he's still alive?" Guy glances at his friend as they flit off, side by side.

No. He didn't and judging from what he had gathered so far, Obito had no memory of his "death" or much of anything beyond the physical age he was still at.

He shakes his head. "No, but I'm going to find out." Assuming that they could ever return everyone's memories to them.

If Obito didn't know, then no one else would either. Though that was a secondary consideration. Right now, they just had to find them!

"Whoever did this is likely still out there." And probably biding their time to get their hands on the children! "We have to hurry."

He was most worried about the Hyugas and Uchihas. Those kids had bloodlines. It was quite possible that whoever was behind this just wanted their eyes.

The very thought made the silver haired ninja shutter. It was one thing for ninjas in the midst of battle to face such a threat, but children? This had gone too far!

Guy nods his head in determination. "Don't worry, we'll find them." The two continue their search. "The Power of Youth is on our side!"

Kakashi still didn't understand the Power of Youth thing. Still, it was important to his friend and apparently highly motivating. And at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

"You're right." They couldn't give up. "Besides, they're children and loud ones at that." How well could they really hide?

There were over twenty of them. Twenty children who were all age ten or under. That didn't exactly lend itself to stealth.

That's when his eyes widen. "Guy! We have to hurry!" They might run out of food. "They could be starving by now!"

While grown ninjas were often accustomed to going without food or very little food for a day or two, children weren't. They were still growing and someone could have gotten seriously hurt by now!

It was one thing for them to bicker with adult supervision. It was another for them to all be living together without any. The amount of fights that must have broken out by now, well that was utterly horrifying to contemplate.

"I know what you're thinking." Guy looks at him. "Don't worry. Those kids stole a lot of food. They should be okay."

Kakashi wasn't so sure about that. Even if they had stolen a lot of food, what about water? That and assuming that somehow they had managed to gather enough supplies, that didn't necessarily mean they'd distribute them wisely.

"I hope you're right." He sighs.

* * *

Saiden smirks back in the Sound. Everything was going according to plan. The Leaf would be crippled without their Tailed Beast and the Sand would be wondering where their Kazekage went.

"So the plan was that you turned them into brats?" One of the Sound Ninjas look at him in utter bewilderment.

"Of course." He nods his head as if it was self-explanatory. "Some of those kids used to be fearsome Criminal Ninjas. The Leaf will have their hands full trying to figure out what to do with them.." Saiden pauses and adds. "Not to mention, we've taken some of their strongest fighters and turned them into little more than toddlers."

What better way could there be to handicap the Leaf than that? Soon, he thinks to himself. Very soon, Saiden would wrest control of the Leaf away from Tsunade and from there, some more experimentation should unlock the secrets of immortality!

The Sound Ninja bats at something by his head. "Makes sense." He nods in agreement.

"Of course, what are you doing?" Saiden raises an eyebrow at his henchman's unusual behavior.

He shrugs as if it was all perfectly normal. "Eh there was a bug. Just swatting it away." Saiden nods in understanding.

That was one thing that always annoyed him about life in the Sound. There were far too many insects buzzing around.

Oh well. No matter. He had more important things to focus on at the moment than pest control. Surely, by now the Leaf was in utter chaos and the time to strike was near.

"What are we going to do if the Uchiha Brothers find out the truth about the Massacre?" Jira looks at him with wary eyes.

Saiden shrugs at that. "Doesn't matter, they're children. They have no memory of that and we can always ensure compliance later." He smirks. "Every single one of those brats is going to make an excellent addition to our kingdom."

That's what it would be. A kingdom. He would be the ruler of course, but every King needed a set of Royal Guards. These brats would grow up one day and make excellent ones.

The line up was impressive. A former (or future) Kage, three Uchihas, two Hyugas, the Akatsuki, Guy's Team, and the Rookie Nine. He'd be unstoppable!

"How long are they going to stay that way though?" Jira looks at him.

Jira was asking far too many questions, but he would throw him a bone. "The Jutsu currently is only temporary." He shakes his head. "It'll last long enough for our attack though and I can always hit them with it again."

The butterflies all look at each other with wide eyes as they fly off. They had learned what they needed to know. So this was the person responsible for Shino being a child again. Interesting. Very interesting.

* * *

At that same moment Tsunade sighs as she pours herself another glass of sake. Fortunately, all the Jonin and Chunins had been briefed on the situation. Unfortunately, they still didn't know where the children had gone.

"There has to be somewhere." Kurenai sighs as she looks at the other woman.

Indeed. There did. That many children shouldn't be able to stay hidden for so long. Granted, Itachi had had already graduated the Academy by this point, but still. Most of them weren't that far along yet.

She takes a sip of her drink and eyes the Genjutsu Mistress. "I suppose we should be grateful that they at least didn't take Mirai with them." That would have ended in disaster.

A toddler with that many other children unsupervised. That wouldn't have ended well. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Kurenai gasps at the thought. "You're right, but we'll find them." She smiles at Tsunade. "They're clever and hyper little things, but they can't outrun all of our best people."

Tsunade sighs as she takes a gulp of her sake. "That's the thing, most of them are some of our best people." This wouldn't end well. She just knew it.

Iruka peeks in and sighs. "Still no luck then?" Tsuande shakes her head.

The Academy Instructor's eyes narrow with worry. "That's not good." No kidding!

What were they going to do, if the Jutsu wore off? What would happen if all those children, got their memories and their adult abilities back at once? When they were alone?!

She winces. "A bloodbath." Tsunade couldn't help, but voice the thought on her mind as she pondered the situation.

"We won't let that happen, Lady Tsunade!" Iruka and Kurenai assure her.

The Hokage could only hope that would indeed turn out to be the case, but she couldn't be sure that it was. The medic had a bad feeling about all of this. A very, very bad feeling.

* * *

A short while later, Suigetsu grins. "Hey, the butterflies are back!" That of course, got everyone's attention immediately.

"Mr. Squishy wants to know what the butterflies have to say." Gaara looks up from his position of his sand castle. "It could be important."

Hidan smirks and shakes his head. "Mr. Squishy?" The red head twitches at being laughed at. "That's so lame!"

"SAND COFFIN!" He immediately sends his send at the loudmouthed boy!

Hinata's eyes widen. "No! Gaara!" The young girl was horrified. "Don't hurt him! He's just being dumb!" She pauses somewhat nervously. "And he's jealous that you have a Mr. Squishy and he doesn't!"

Lee nods his head energetically. He had been eating some candy with Sakura when the butterflies came back. He was happy to see them of course. Not only were they very beautiful and youthful, they were also useful!

"Oh alright." Gaara sighs and retracts his sand.

"Ha!" Kisame laughs. "You looked so scared! You should have seen your face, Hidan."

Itachi shakes his head at all the mischief going on, but he couldn't disagree with Kisame's sentiment. Hidan had been scared and for good reason. Everyone was now fully aware of what Gaara's sand was capable of.

"You did deserve it, for taunting him in such a fashion." He shrugs.

Hidan didn't like that very much. He was about to go over to the Uchiha Brother and give him a piece of his mind, before Deidara covers his mouth with his hands.

"It's not worth dying over, yeah?" His hands which had mouths on them!

Hidan suddenly looked rather green around the girls and Ino laughs. "Well I guess the loudmouth finally bit of more than he could chew!"

Karin nods in agreement. Though really, she wanted to know what those butterflies saw. Currently, they were making their way over to Shino and appeared to be communicating with him somehow.

She wasn't really sure how. Unlike regular Summons, these butterflies couldn't talk. Well at least, she didn't think that they could.

"What'd they say?" Naruto grins at the insect lover.

Shino blinks and frowns. He looked torn between shock and anger, Kakuzu decides. That probably wasn't a very good sign. It was rare to see BugBoy flip out or show much emotion over much of anything.

"It seems that inside that village, the man responsible for our childish state is plotting to take over the Leaf." He pauses, wondering if he should say something to the Uchiha Brothers about the "Massacre."

He had never heard of any Uchiha Massacre though. So if they stopped the bad guys, that probably wouldn't happen. For now, they needed to focus on turning back.

"NO WAY! THOSE CREEPS!" Naruto and Kiba flail loudly.

Sasuke shakes his head and gags Naruto. "Will you just shut up and let him explain things?!" He twitches.

What was it about blondes? Why did they never shut up? It looked like the only normal blonde person in the group was Temari and Sasuke was pretty sure that she was planning to kidnap Shikamaru to play house with him. So even calling her normal was a bit of a stretch to put it mildly!

"Alright." Tenten frowns. "So we know who the bad guys are, but what are we going to do about it?"

Sakura frowns as well. "That's a good point. We can't possibly expect to win against an entire village full of adults." That thought troubled her deeply.

Jugo glances at the butterflies and sighs. They were all missing one very important piece of information though. Maybe, their odds of defeating the Sound were low now, but that might not be the case, if they were adults again.

"Did they say how long we'll be like this or of it's possible to change back." He asks softly.

At hearing that question, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Shino again. Even Neji couldn't help, but bite his lower lip at this and he notices that the older kids were just as enthralled as he was.

Shino nods at this. "I didn't get a timeline, but apparently it's going to wear off." A timeline would have been nice! "Fairly soon at that. They feel like they'll be able to attack the Leaf before it happens."

Kakuzu frowns. He didn't give a damn about the Leaf one way or another, but he knew a set up when he saw one. And the fact they had targeted a bunch of people to make their plans easier, didn't sit well with him.

That and well there could be money to be made off t his. "If we save the Leaf, we could probably get lots of money for candy." He smirks.

"Hell yeah!" Hidan grins. "Candy!" He swats Deidara away from him. "Keep those creepy mouths away from me!"

Sai tilts his head innocently. "What creepy mouths?" Upon hearing this, Deidara grins and shows him his hands.

Suddenly, the other artist looked more than a little green around the gills. Not that Hinata could blame him. It was rather strange to say the least.

Of course, she knew that it was wrong to judge someone based on their looks. After all, Kisame had been pretty nice and he looked like a shark! Though she suspected that was mostly because he liked Itachi.

"You're all missing the point!" Pain twitches. "The point is we're going to change back and there's going to be an attack on the Leaf and it's up for us to stop it!"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Who made you the boss of everyone?" Pain gives him a dirty look.

How dare this mortal threaten him! "I am Pain! I am God! I'm clearly the best suited to lead us!" He smiles. "With Konan by my side of course."

That was the wrong thing to say. Suddenly, lots of fights broke out over who should lead them. To say the least, it was complete chaos.

"STOP IT!" Gaara feels himself twitch as he sends out his sand and ties everyone up, well except Hinata. "It doesn't matter who the leader is! What matters is that we all get out of this alive! And that includes Mr. Squishy!"

Hinata smiles and kisses his cheek. "That was really brave." Thank goodness for Gaara's sand, she muses.

Gaara's eyes go comically wide when she kisses his cheek. The poor boy had absolutely no way to process the fact hat a girl had just _kissed_ him! He had been kissed by the Princess.

_**Thud!**_ So his body just shut down and he fainted. Everyone blinks.

Naruto walks over and pokes Gaara with a stick. "Hinata, I think you killed Gaara." He pokes again.

"Oh God!" Hinata starts bawling. "I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry." She starts panicking and running around in circles. "I'm a bad person!"

"Hinata, wait!" Sakura tries to calm the panicking girl down. "It's okay, he's not dead."

Honestly, what the heck was Naruto trying to do, scare Hinata to death?! The pink haired girl would deal with the blonde's stupidity later though. It was more important to calm their Byakugan Girl down first!

"He's not?" Hinata sniffles hopefully.

Ino grins at the bluenete and walks over, patting her on the back. "No. He's not." She smiles at her reassuringly. "He' just fainted." The blonde kid pauses and adds. "He'll probably wake up soon. So don't worry."

Suigetsu and Hinata both sigh in relief upon hearing that. "That's good." Suigetsu shakes his head. "Sandy is one of our best fighters. We can't afford to lose him."

Kankuro raises an eyebrow. "What did you just call my brother?" Unbelievable. This kid clearly didn't know who he was dealing with!

If he had any idea what Gaara was capable of, he would never give him such silly nickname. That or maybe, he was just stupid. Kankuro suspected the latter option, really.

"Sandy." He nods as if it was perfectly logical to call Gaara that. "He uses sand and he's from the sandy. So he's very Sandy." The sword lover winks. "Get it?"

Everyone shakes their head and groans at this. Well, Obito thinks to himself…at least they were bonding as comrades. Now, all they had to do was get bigger again and save the Leaf Village! That should be easy for a bunch of cool kids like them!


	11. Kiss Knockout Jutsu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children discover a powerful new jutsu as Kakashi and Guy confront Saiden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: Got the Jutsu name from a friend of mine who left a similar comment on another of my stories. I thought it was funny. Let me know if you want your name listed in a shout out.

Hours. It had taken hours, but finally the children had decided, they had to act. If they were ever going to get to the bottom of all this, they had to do something. And that something was attacking the Sound.

"Do you have any idea how crazy this is?!" Kankuro demands.

Itachi nods as though to pacify Kankuro. "It is crazy." That was much obvious.

The middle Sand Sibling nods. "Exactly!" Though he was even more foolish than Sasuke was, if he thought that was the end of the issue.

"The alternative is even more so." Itachi sighs and shakes his head. "We can't just wait around for to transform back into adults while they attack the Leaf."

While Itachi was explaining why they had to act, Gaara groans and looks around in confusion. "What happened?" He had never fainted before.

Hinata was kneeling by him and look at him with concern. "You fainted." She sighs in relief and hands him Mr. Squishy. "I thought I killed you at first, but you're okay!" She smiles.

He feels himself blush as he takes his teddy bear back. "Oh." Right. That's what happened. She _kissed_ him and then everything went dark.

"You're Kiss Knockout Jutsu is very strong." He blinks.

Hidan laughs at that. "Someone write that down! That's some good sh-" Temari covers Hidan's mouth.

She glares at him. There was no way that she was going to let that creep corrupt her baby brother. It was bad enough that he had scary demon inside him. He didn't need to pick up his disgusting habits!

"What a drag." Shikamaru sighs. "So we're going to the Sound then?"

He couldn't believe it. This wouldn't end well. Their chances of victory were practically zero, but it looked like that's what was going to happen.

Deidara grins. The blonde was positively delighted by the prospect of a good fight, it seemed. "Don't worry." His grin only grows. "We can do this! Yeah?!"

Konan and Pain both look at Gaara. "Gag him." The two issued the command simultaneously.

The red head nods and proceeds to do exactly that. "Yeah. That's much better." Kakuzu nods approvingly.

Sasuke tilts his head and looks at Gaara. "Do you think you could teach me how to do that?" He points his thumb at Naruto. "So I can shut him up when he gets too loud?"

Gaara pauses as he considers it. He didn't think it was something that could be taught. His sand had always been with him. It reacted to his will.

"I don't think so." The red head shakes his head.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY, YOU JERK?!" The other blonde demands as he tackles Sasuke and the two of them roll around in the dirt together.

Kisame laughs as he watches them fight. This was getting to be an every day thing. It was funny, but he was glad Itachi was much more mellow than his brother.

"He's gonna be your Brother-In-Law one day." He pats Itachi on the back.

Itachi raises an eyebrow and pauses thoughtfully. "It seems that way." The elder Uchiha brother nods after considering the matter carefully.

This really was going to be a first, Itachi muses to himself. A blonde Uchiha. What would his parents say?

"Oh yeah." Suigetsu nods sagely. "Those two are totally getting married." He nods again before pointing to Itachi and Kisame. "And so are Mr. Eyelashes and Sharkface!" He laughs.

As soon as he said that, four pairs of angry eyes turn on the white haired boy. Suddenly he gulps and tries to hide behind a tree as the others chase him. Thankfully, Karin stepped in.

"You can't beat the idiot up!" Karin protest.s

Suigetsu nods as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's right!" He blinks as the second part of that comment registers. "HEY! Who are you calling an idiot?!" He glares at her.

Sakura laughs as she watches the scene before he and sticks close to Lee. "I'm glad that you aren't as crazy as some of the other boys." Sure, Lee had strange tastes in clothes and was always babbling about youth, but at least he wasn't nuts like Suigetsu!

"That's very youthful of you to say!" Lee grins, but it seemed that Karin was not done with Suigetsu just yet.

She glares at him and cuffs him behind the ears. "I said that you're an idiot! Because you are!" The red headed girl rolls her eyes at him. "And besides, I'm the only one allowed to beat you up!"

Ino laughs as she glances down at a picture that Sai was painting. "Looks like we know who is getting married first when we get bigger." The blonde girl apparently didn't realize what she had gotten into though.

Sai realized it though because he immediately rises to his feet and stands between them. Between Karin and Ino. He wasn't going to let the red head hurt her.

"She was just teasing." He smiles cheerfully.

"Will you stop smiling?!" Zetsu shivers as he watches him closely. "It's really creepy!"

Tenten shakes her head. "You're one to talk! You look like a Venus Flytrap!" To which Zetsu twitches.

"Tenten, that's not very nice." Neji shakes his head. "It was his destiny to be a Flowerboy. We shouldn't taunt him about it."

Tenten pauses as she considers that and slowly nods. Maybe, Neji was right. She shouldn't have been so mean.

"Okay." She smiles. "You're right." Then she turns her attention back to Zetsu. "I'm sorry, Flowerboy. You're perfect just the way you are."

Zetsu twitches again. These people were unbelievable! If he had any idea where he was, he probably would have wondered off. He was so tired of being called Flowerboy!

"Friends, we must focus!" Lee shouts! "It's not very youthful to get so distracted!"

Jugo nods in agreement. The bushy browed boy was right. They needed to figure out what to do with the Sound.

"You're right." He looks at Shino. "So what's the plan?"

Shino blinks. Wait. He was in charge? Since when? Most people just ignored him?!

"Shino, your insects were gathering intelligence for us." Obito points out.

Kiba pets Akamaru and nods. It seemed BugBoy needed a vote of confidence. That or a pep talk. Well whatever you wanted to call it, the insect lover needed one and he was just the kid to do it!

"You can do it, BugBoy!" He smiles at him as Akamaru barks encouragingly.

Shino face faults. BugBoy?! Why did they always have to call him BugBoy?! Couldn't they come up with something more cool sounding?!

* * *

Meanwhile Kakashi and Guy were still hot on the trail of the children. They had finally picked up a lead. Some sand.

"We're getting close!" Guy grins and Kakashi nods.

They had to be getting close. Sand didn't appear out of nowhere in the middle of a forest. It was far from a mystery where that came from. Gaara.

That thought filled him with hope and dread at the same time. Kakashi didn't know what the Leaf would do, if something happened to the Sand Siblings. This was especially true on Gaara's case. He was the Kazekage!

Guy places his hand on Kakashi's shoulder comfortingly as they flit through the forest together. "Don't worry. We'll get them back." Kakashi nods.

He could only hope that would indeed be the case. What were they going to do, if they found them but they were all adults again? What could he possibly say to Obito after all this time?

"Do you think that they would all stay together or split up?" He glances at his friend.

He truly didn't have an answer for that question himself. Most of these children didn't necessarily have a reason to stay in one group. The Sand Siblings on particular were likely to split off, but there was also the Akatsuki to consider.

Kakashi couldn't forget about Taka either. While they might not remember being Sound Ninjas, three of them weren't from the Leaf. So they might feel like outsiders and wander off for that reason.

Guy sighs and shakes his head. "Hard to say really." That didn't make Kakashi feel any better. "They might figure there is safety and in numbers or wander off in smaller groups as children are want to do."

That was the thing. They weren't dealing with adults. They were dealing with children.

Had they all been adults, Kakashi was reasonably confident that he could have predicted what most of them would have done in any given situation. Unfortunately, that was not the case. They were stuck trying to understand the minds of children, if they wanted to find them.

"I was afraid you were going to say that." He sighs.

Thank goodness for ninja training, the silver haired man idly notes. Were it not for that, he'd be stretching the limits of his endurance. As it was, he could probably continue on like this for another three or four days.

The children wouldn't be able to though. They might be laying somewhere. Tired, exhausted, and scared. Maybe, cold or hungry as well. It was just one of many reasons why they had to hurry.

"I'm sorry." He smiles at Kakashi. "Though we did promise that we'd always be honest with each other and I never go back on a promise as you know!" He flashes a blindingly white smile at the other man.

Kakashi almost falls off the tree branch that he was jumping off of. "Yes, that wouldn't be very youthful!" He chuckles.

Thankfully, he didn't. He was used to such smiles from Guy and had developed somewhat of an immunity to them.

* * *

A few hours later, the children had infiltrated the Sound Village. Naturally, they knew that they couldn't all be together. So they had split up into groups. The same teams that the Academy had assigned them.

"This place is giving me the creeps." Suigetsu whines.

Sasuke nods in agreement. He felt like he had been here before, but he didn't know why. That made him edge closer to Itachi. Well at least he tried to anyway. Kisame was kinda blocking him.

"Are you scared, Bastard?" Naruto laughs at Sasuke.

Sasuke twitches in response. "I'm not scared of anything!" He glares at the blonde.

"Quiet!" Hidan shakes his head. "You idiots are going to get us caught!" He sighs in frustration.

Unfortunately, Itachi couldn't disagree with that. He was debating about whether they should ask Gaara to make some more sandgags when he heard something.

"Get on the ground and don't move!" He hisses at his friends.

Just like that, they were all on the ground. Not a moment too soon either because some Sound Ninjas walk by. That was a close one.

* * *

Elsewhere Team Best was inspecting the perimeter of the Sound. Of course, Deidara was being well Deidara. Much to the annoyance of his teammates.

"If they're the bad guys, wouldn't it just be easier to blow them up?" He smiles at them. "Yeah?"

Konan shakes her head as though she thought that the blonde was crazy and in her defense, that was probably the case. Then again, most of the children here were crazy. That was why she was so glad to have Pain around!

"How do you propose we blow them up?" She raises an eyebrow.

Deidara grins as if the answer was obvious. "Well I've got some explosive tags." Right. That was really going to work the bluenette thinks to herself sarcastically.

Kakuzu shakes his head. Sometimes he wondered what he had done to deserve this. All he wanted was money and candy and yet, he had to get stuck surrounded by crazy people!

"Those explosive tags aren't nearly enough to take over an entire village." He rolls his eyes.

Jugo nods in agreement. "I've sent out some birds to do some scouting." Right well at least someone was being rational, Kakuzu sighs in relief.

"Sai, what are you doing?" Zetsu blinks as he notices the artist was sketching something.

Sai smiles pleasantly at the other boy. "I'm sketching the area." He pauses and adds. "We might need a map at some point to escape or coordinate an attack."

"Oh right." He nods. "Well that makes sense."

* * *

Tsuande sighs as she looks out the window of her office. She still couldn't believe this. Somewhere out there, there was a group of children who would grow up to be some of the strongest ninjas the world had ever known and they didn't know where said children were.

"They're still searching, My Lady." Shizune assures her.

The blonde knew that, of course. That didn't make her feel any better though. What would happen, if they all transformed back and had their memories back or worse, if they didn't get their memories back?

She couldn't punish people for crimes they didn't remember committing. That would be wrong, but the Sixth Hokage wasn't entirely sure that she could overlook them either.

"How do we get ourselves into these situations, Shizune?" She glances at her assistant warily.

Shizune sighs and shrugs. Not that the Hokage expected another reaction, of course. She didn't even know how this had happened. So how could she possibly expect the other woman to know?

"Bad luck, I guess." She shakes her head.

Yes. Bad luck. That was the story of her life. First, her brother and Dan. Now, a bunch of ninjas had been transformed into children. It just wasn't right!

She sighs as she gets herself another drink. The Hokage was quite certain she was going to need a lot of them before this situation was resolved.

She couldn't help, but shake her head. "If it wasn't for bad luck, we would have no luck at all." Well unless Naruto was involved somehow.

"Don't say that, My Lady." The other woman pleads with her. "We'll find a way to fix this."

Tsunade nods. She hoped that was true. She hoped with every fiber of her being that that was true, but she had a bad feeling about this. All of it.

Back in the Sound Village, Saiden sighs. This was taking longer than he thought it would. No matter though.

* * *

They would strike the Leaf soon. Victory was at hand. All he had to do was to be patient.

"Any sign of the brats yet?" He raises an eyebrow at Jira.

Jira shakes his head. Wonderful. They still didn't know where those children had gotten off to. Well at least they should be able to strike the village before they turned back.

The man looks utterly horrified at not knowing though. "We're working on it though." Which was a point in his favor.

Saiden quite liked it when people were terrified of him. It made him feel more powerful. And soon enough, he was going to get more of that addictive feeling.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched. By Team Cool! Temari frowns as she eyes them.

"I think that one with the strange hair is the leader." She whispers to her teammates.

Ino, Sakura, and Karin all nod. The other blonde in particular, thought that there was something wrong with Saiden. Naturally, she had no problem saying so.

"We should watch them closely." She points her finger at them. "Something is up."

Shikamaru rolls his eyes and stifles a yawn. "What a drag. We found the bad guys, but we can't do anything about it yet!"

Akamaru yips in confirmation and Kiba covers his mouth quickly. They couldn't risk giving away their location!

"Quiet, Buddy." He whispers, trying to calm the overly excited pup down.

Obito shakes his head. They'd be lucky, if they didn't get caught at this rate. Still, this was the perfect opportunity to gather information about the bad guys and they had to take it.

That's when he notices something out of the corner of his eye. "Silver?" Nah. He must have imagined it. There was no silver in the forest that surrounded the Sound Village. That was just ridiculous!

* * *

At the other end of the Sound Village, Shino sighs as he sends his bugs off again. They were getting quite the work out lately, but it couldn't be helped. They had to know what was going on and his insects were perfect for gathering intelligence.

"Can you see Sakura, Friend Neji?" Lee whispers to the Hyuga boy excitedly.

Neji rolls his eyes in response. This was hardly the time to be worried about one's girlfriend. They had a job to do. He wasn't going to waste his Byakugan's scouting abilities on something so trivial.

Honestly, Lee really should know better. "Sakura is okay." Hinata smiles at Lee.

Apparently, so should his cousin. Her sweet nature was going to get her in trouble one of these days! She was way too focused on making other people happy!

"Do you think it's safe to send out some of your puppets?" Choji looks at Kankuro.

Kankuro shakes his head. There was too big a chance that they'd be noticed. It was better to rely on Shino's bugs and those freaky eyes that Hinata and Neji had.

"No." He shakes his head again. "It's too risky."

The puppet master still didn't understand what exactly was so special about that girl's and boy's eyes. He supposed that he didn't have to understand though. As long as it worked, he wasn't going to complain!

"Yeah." Tenten nods. "We need to lay low while we figure out a plan." The young girl agrees.

* * *

Kakashi blinks as he sees Obito hiding a few hundred yards away! They had found them! They had found them, but they were on the outskirts of the Sound Village!

These kids were going to be the death of him! What on Earth had possessed them to travel all the way out here? It was almost as if they were waiting for something.

"Kids look like they're playing Hide and Go Seek or something." Guy looks around din confusion.

That was one way to describe it, but it wasn't fully accurate. No. Their movements were far too purposeful for that.

"I think they're trying to gather intelligence." He blinks.

The very idea should have been laughable, but it wasn't. Not when they had prodigies like Itachi, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, Temari, and others on their side. These weren't just ordinary children. These were super children!

That's when Kakashi hears a dog bark and he winces. He knew what had just happened. Akamaru had just given the children's location away!

"What the Hell?" Saiden raises an eyebrow as he looks around. "A dog?!"

"Guy, cover me!" Kakashi streaks off towards the children.

He had to get them out of there! The CopyCat Ninja had to get them to safety! There was no way that he was going to leave them all to face the Sound Village on their own!

This time would be different! This time, he would save Obito. It might have been too late for Rin, but fate had given him a second chance to save his former teammate and he was going to take it!

"A Leaf Ninja?" Saiden smirks when he sees Kakashi.

Mercifully, it didn't seem like he had noticed the children yet. Good. He could work with that. All he and Guy had to do was distract this man and his companion. If they did that, there was a chance that Obito's new team could get away!

"Not just a Leaf Ninja!" Guy dashes over to them. "Two Leaf Ninjas! The Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf and the CopyCat Ninja!"

Really, was now the time to be introducing themselves, Kakashi wonders with a sigh. Oh well. He supposed it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

"I don't care who you are." Saiden smirks. "You aren't strong enough to take on an entire village by yourselves!"

That was true. Taking down an entire village with just the two of them was going to prove difficult. They would have to improvise.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Kakashi makes about a dozen clones of himself.

Guy strikes a dramatic pose. "Your whole village won't be our opponents." he smirks at Jira. "It'll be a two on two match!"

Saiden's eyes narrow as he watches them. Instinctively, Kakashi knew. He knew that this was the new leader of the Sound Village.

Orochimaru had died. Obviously, someone was going to step in to fill the void. It looked like this was the man who had done exactly that.

"Oh I think you underestimate us." Saiden smirks. "That's a mistake that you'll soon come to regret!"

It took all his self-control not to watch the children too much He could see them sneaking off. Good. Good. At least, Obito and the other members of his team had gotten away. That was something!

"Funny, I was about to say the same to you." Kakashi smiles as he as the sounds of birds chirping is heard. "CHIDORI!" He rushes at the other man.

He had to end this quickly. He and Guy had to end this quickly or they'd call for help. If they called for help from their comrades, it would be all over. They couldn't let that happen!

"Come on, Kakashi!" Guy grins as he charges at Jira. "Let's show them what the Power of Youth can do!"


	12. Who Put Him In Charge?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children, Guy, and Kakashi face off against the Sound Village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: This is intended to be a silly story, so the Battle Chapter will reflect that. This will be considerably less gory and more focused on humor than my usual Battle Chapters. We are also veering off cannon a bit as it pertains to the Uchiha Massacre for plot purposes. Happy reading!

Obito watches in horror as Kakashi and Guy charge towards the Bad Guys. He couldn't believe it, Kakashi of all people was actually risking his life to save **him**! The silver haired man had always teased him in school and everything, but now he was willing to fight an entire village to save Obito?!

"What drag." Shikamaru sighs as he glances towards the battlefield. "We need to go and get help!"

Temari shakes her head and looks at her boyfriend as if he had lost his mind. That's right. Shikamaru was her boyfriend! Why? Cause she said so!

"By the time we got back to the Leaf and got someone here, the battle would be over." There was no point in even trying that method. "We have to help them!"

Ino shakes her head. "How are we supposed to help them?" The other blonde was brave, but she was crazy!

There was no way they could take on an entire village! It didn't matter what Kakashi Sensei said! The rest of the Sound was going to be alerted long before the two Leaf Ninjas could escape!

Karin pauses as she considers the situation. "We need to find the other teams." The odds didn't seem great, but if they worked together maybe they could do it. "We beat our Senseis earlier, maybe we can beat these guys."

"We need to stall for time." Kiba nods. "When we're bigger, we'll have a better chance." There had to be a reason why the Bad Guys wanted them to be kids again, right?

Obviously, they were really strong! You wouldn't go to all this trouble just to turn weaklings into kids. No. Someone was afraid of them. Really afraid!

"Let's get going then!" Obito orders Team Cool and they swiftly depart to find the other teams.

* * *

Meanwhile Kakashi's eyes narrow as he slams into Saiden. Unfortunately, he had hit a clone. As soon as his Chidori struck, it disappeared with a loud poof.

"Well let's see if this one is real!" Guy smirks as he slams his foot into Jira.

Jira goes flying several feet back. Yes, that one was real. That didn't change the fact that the leader hadn't been.

His eyes immediately dart around their surroundings. Searching for any sign of Saiden. The Byakugan would have come in handy right about now.

Suddenly a loud whistle blows and Kakashi looks. Saiden had hidden in a tree. And it didn't take a genius to realize what that whistle was designed to do. It was designed to summon the other Sound Villagers.

"Damn it!" He hisses under his breath.

Saiden just smirks. "You should have just walked away." Just as the sound of people running towards them could be heard.

He glances at Guy. "Are you up for this?" Guy nods in agreement. "I'm ready! The Power of Youth won't be defeated that easily!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, Team Cool had just run into Team Awesome. Who looked more than a little unsettled at what was happening.

"Man, are we relived to see you guys!" Naruto grins. "We thought you were goners! It looks like Kakashi and Bushy Brow Sensei are fighting those creeps!"

Kisame nods in agreement. "Yeah. What are we going to do about that by the way?" He tilts his head at Itachi. "I mean it's not really our fight. Is it?"

The middle Uchiha shakes his head. "It might not be your fight, but this is my village." He nods at that assessment. "And those two men are fighting to protect all of us. The least we can do is return the favor."

That got Suigetsu's attention. He grins happily. Alright! They were going to fight and kick some butt!

"So let's go kick their ugly butts!" He grins.

Hidan raises an eyebrow. "And how do you think we're gonna do that! Most of us don't even have weapons!" He gives the white haired boy an incredulous look.

Sasuke smirks. "We don't need normal weapons." He points his finger the red head. "We have something better. We have a Gaara."

Gaara blinks. They were _happy_ about having him on their team? "Yeah!" He beams. "And Mr. Squishy!" And upon hearing _that_ , all the members of Team Cool and Team Awesome face fault.

"Temari?" Shikamaru looks at his girlfriend for backup.

If anyone knew how to handle Gaara, it would definitely be her. After all, Gaara was her brother. She'd know how to _motivate_ him.

Oh boy. Temari shakes her head and walks over to Gaara. "Those people who are fighting Kakashi Sensei and Bushy Brow Sensei are very bad." She nods somberly. "They want to take Mr. Squishy and your new friend away."

Gaara blinks. Suddenly the sand lashes around him rather angry. "They can't have Mr. Squishy or the Princess! She'll Knockout Kiss Jutsu them if they come near her!"

"Um Gaara, I don't think that Jutsu works on adults." Sakura rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

"Let's go find the other teams and strategize." Itachi shakes his head. "Even with Gaara's sand, we're still at an enormous disadvantage." And with that, Itachi heads off.

Naruto fails wildly. "Hey, who put him in charge?!" He whines.

Sasuke swats him. "My brother has already graduated the Academy. He knows what he's doing." And with that, he drags _**his**_ lovable, dumb blonde after him.

Yes, Naruto was his. He was also lovable in a very dumb way. Facts were facts. Sasuke was the only one who was allowed to beat the idiot up and he was going to make sure that the Sound Ninjas knew that!

* * *

"Damn it!" Kakashi hisses as he and Guy fight back to back.

More and more Sound Ninjas were coming. The only advantage they had was that there were so many of them, that they couldn't all fight them at once. That and his Sharingan combined with Guy's physical prowess.

"Well this is fun!" Guy flashes him a grin as he slams his foot into the air sending dozens of kunais back at their attackers.

The clones were all over the place. Unfortunately, they didn't last long. Still he had made about a dozen. That would even out the odds at least slightly.

They were still outnumbered by hundreds. "Any last words?!" Saiden laughs madly.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same question!" Kakashi glares at Saiden.

He was currently out of reach, but Kakashi was determined to apprehend this bastard. This bastard who had turned some of the most fearsome ninjas in the world into children, completely ignoring the natural order of things.

"I like you're spirit, but this is one battle that you can't possibly win!" Saiden smirks.

Guy just grins. "Never underestimate the power of youth!" He smirks.

* * *

Mere moments later, the teams had all reunited and they were busy strategizing. Right now, they were getting down to the very **serious** business of choosing Team Captains for this mission!

"I'll be Team Awesome's Captain." Itachi nods. "My specialty is Genjutsu which doesn't work as well on this many opponents and my crows can be used offensively and to communicate quickly on the battlefield." There was some bickering, but eventually this was accepted. (Mostly because the other members of Team Awesome were ready for some "action" as Suigetsu put it).

Team Best was having a harder time deciding who should be Captain. They were all fairly evenly matched as far as their defensive and offensive abilities went, save for Deidara who just liked blowing stuff up.

"I can be Captain!" He grins. "Yeah!"

Konan lays down the law. "No, I'm being Captain. Everyone else can contribute better at the front. I can fly above and give orders easier with my wings!" She smiles.

"That's not fair!" Deidara whines.

Pain glares at him. "If you upset Konan, you will know pain!" His death glare only intensified and Deidara wisely issued no further protests.

Shikamaru yawns loudly. "What a drag, I'll be Captain. I'm the smartest one here and I have the least stamina, so it only makes sense." That drew many glares from everyone, but no one could argue with that second part.

"Alright. Don't you dare mess this up though!" Temari gives him a dirty look.

Neji shakes his head. "I'll be Team Captain. My Byakugan can see far and wide and I'm an excellent strategist."

Thankfully, no one on the Dream Team seemed particularly fussed about that. "Alright! It's decided!" Obito grins. "Let's draw up our plans and ATTACK!"

* * *

Saiden was watching as his Sound Villagers advanced on Guy and Kakashi. The Jonin's Sharingan was making things difficult and so were his clones. Not to mention, Guy was quite possibly the best Taijutsu User that he had ever seen.

"It's not use, you're all going to die!" He smirks.

Still, he was confident that victory would be achieved. That was until he heard a serious of explosions and everything changed.

_Boom! Boom! Boom!_ Explosions were now occurring seemingly randomly on the battlefield, but with one catch. The explosive tags were only targeting the Sound Ninjas.

"We're gonna join the party!" Deidara laughs madly. "Yeah?!"

Suigetsu nods in agreement. "Water Bullets!" He fires off dozens of Water Bullets at the Sound Ninjas.

Saiden blinks as he watches the explosions go off and some of his men get injured while another _child_ was shooting his men! Those brats might be kids, but apparently the bullets were still lethal and the explosions could sill do some damage!

"What the Hell is going on?!" He demands.

Kiba smirks as he directs Akamaru to attack some of the Bad Guys. "We're the Explosive Division and we're here to rescue our Senseis! Go get em, Boy!"

Kankuro nods in agreement. He had attached some of the explosive tags to his puppets. After awhile, the Captains had all agreed that a mix up in the line up was needed, if they were going to succeed and thus, the Divisions were born!

The Explosive Division was designed to charge into battle first. They were supposed to get the Bad Guys attention and work on creating openings for the other Divisions. So that was exactly what they were all going to do!

* * *

"I'm not sure that being part of the Stabbing Division is very youthful!" Lee frowns as he looks at the sword that Jugo had made him out of chakra.

Kisame rolls his eyes. "Kid, if you're going to be a ninja, you're gonna have to stab some people. Get over it." And with that, he charges head first into the fray with the sand sword that the little psycho had so thoughtfully made him! He could make this work!

"Good thing that we have Gaara who can create weapons out of Sand and Jugo who can make them out of Chakra." Obito nods as he too joins the fray.

_**Stab! Stab! Stab!**_ Over and over the members of the Stabbing Division lived up to their name, blood was going everywhere.

"Don't feel bad, Lee." Jugo smiles at the other ninja. "You're just doing what is necessary to protect the ones you care about!"

Jugo was a nice guy, Lee thinks to himself. Well until someone stabbed him and then he transformed. Jugo was well… not so nice after that.

"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! MUHAHAHA!" Gone was his kind friend, replaced by a bloodthirsty monster who was stabbing everything in sight!

Kakashi blinks. "Guy, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He looks at his friend in shock.

Guy blinks and looks just as stunned. "I believe our students are attempting to come to our rescue!" He grins. "That is very youthful of them, eh Kakashi? Let's show them how it's done!"

* * *

Itachi smiles as he sends his crows off. "Peck out their eyes or any vulnerable spots on our enemies' bodies." He tells the crows.

He was a Captain and a member of the Sneaky Division. Anyone on this new team was going to attack in a way that was sneaky. After all, most people wouldn't find crows threatening at first, but their beaks could do some damage.

"AHHH MY EYES!" A Sound Ninja screams.

Zetsu smirks as he uses his plantlike form to hide and attack enemy ninjas. "I'll show them Flowerboy!" He slashes one of his opponent's throat with a kunai Gaara had made for him out of sand.

There was no way they were ever going to call him that stupid nickname after this battle was done! He would make sure of it!

Temari smirks as she charges out onto the battlefield and takes out her fan. "Hey, boys!" She smiles sweetly. "Wanna play?!"

"Cute kid." One tilts his head. "What the Hell is she doing on the battlefield though?" One of the Sound Ninja looks confused.

"Eh. I don't know." He shrugs. "Shoo, Girlie! You don't wanna get hurt!"

Temari twitches! How **dare** they not acknowledge her as a fellow ninja! Didn't these guys know who she was?!

"I'm not going anywhere, but you are!" She swings her mighty fan and blows them several feet back until they smash right into a tree.

Shino blinks. "Girls are scary sometimes." He shakes his head and looks at his insects. "Attack every Sound Ninja, you see!"

Bees, wasps, fire ants, locusts, fleas, ticks, butterflies, and ladybugs were just a few insects in his arsenal. People often underestimated insects, but they really shouldn't. There was a reason why they had been such a dominant life form on this planet for eons.

"AHHH GET THESE DAMN BEES AWAY FROM ME!" Shino thinks to himself with a smirk.

* * *

Konan looks at the Kamikaze Division. "Are you ready for this?" They were the Division that would be doing the bulk of the fighting. The others were using guerrilla warfare tactics to distract as many Sound Ninjas as possible, while they swooped in.

"I'm ready!" Pain smiles at her as he holds out the spear that Jugo had made for him.

Chaka and sand that could be used to form weapons was obviously a very useful tool, she thinks to herself.

"We've got this!" Tenten shows a scroll that she had encased hundreds of kuanis inside. "I'm going in!" And before anything could be said, the brunette rushed off towards the battlefield, jumping into the air and throwing her kuanis everywhere.

Sasuke blinks. "She's definitely living up to the Division's name." He shakes his head as he tastes out his sand sword. "You ready, Loser?"

Naruto fails. "Bastard, I was born ready and I bet that I'll beat up way more Bad Guys than you!"

Sasuke smirks at that response. "Just what I thought. Let's see, if you can back up that talk!" With that being said, the youngest Uchiha charges into the fray with Naruto following, not far behind.

* * *

Hinata gulps as she stands by Gaara. "Where are the most Bad Guys?" The red head looks at her.

She was part of the Support Division and Gaara was part of the Defense Division. She didn't entirely understand why he was in Defense, but he assured her that he had the "Ultimate Defense." (He seemed rather proud of it too)!

"About fifty yards out. Southeast of us." She whispers with her Byakugan on.

Gaara had given her a whip made out of sand to protect herself with. He nods at her and sends out a massive sand hand out to crush some of those Sound Ninjas. "Thank you." He smiles at her. "Don't worry, I won't let them get you or Mr. Squishy!"

Neji was also in the Support Division and thanks to his Byakugan, he was instructing Choji where to go. "Twenty yards to the left. Roll them over." He nods. "It's their destiny to lose to us!"

"Your left or my left?" Choji smiles.

The Hyuga boy sighs. "My left." Some clarification was apparently needed before the boy turned into a giant ball and rolled off to crush their enemies!

Ino, Sakura, and Karin had decided their best bet was to hide in the trees. They all had a bag made out of sand and rocks in them. So each girl was more than happy to throw rocks at their targets!

"That's some damn good support!" Hidan laughs as he charges into the battle.

He had only been put in the Support Division because no one was sure where to put him. Kamikaze, Stab, or Explosive. So they had decided to give the Support Division a bit more firepower and put him on it!

* * *

"This is unbelievable." Kakashi blinks as he witnesses the utter chaos.

Weapons made out of sand and chakra were flying everywhere. Children all under the age of ten were now fighting on par with adult Sound Ninjas! The grass was now stained red with blood!

It didn't end there though. There were also insects and a puppy flitting about, seemingly part of the battle. Not only that, Gaara's sand hand was squashing some people to death while Choji literally bowled others over.

Saiden fumes. "KILL THE CHILDREN!" It was regrettable, but he wouldn't lose now!

"Don't you touch them!" Kakashi hisses as he lunges at Saiden.

Saiden snuck a fast one in on him though. He manages to slam a kunai into Kakashi at the last minute. His fury was so great, that the CopyCat Ninja didn't see it coming.

"HEY! I'm the only one allowed to beat Kakashi up!" Obito hisses as he charges at Saiden and slams him into the ground from behind, stabbing him through the shoulder with a kunai, holding him in place.

"Obito?" Kakashi blinks in shock.

"What'd you expect?" Obito grins at him. "I'm part of the Stabbing Division! Pretty cool, huh?"

Guy blink as he watches in awe. "Yes, very cool!" He poses dramatically as he kicks some of his opponents. "That's the Power of Youth!"

* * *

"Sai, what's the fastest animal that you can draw?" Shikamaru looks at him.

They were both from the Defensive Division. It was time to do some defending. Him with his strategizing and Sai with his art.

"Falcons." He tilts his head in confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"I need you to draw as many falcons as quickly as you can and have them attack the bad guys!" The lazy genius orders him.

Thankfully, Sai didn't seem to have any issue doing just that. Soon enough at least a dozen falcons were swarming the battlefield and diving at Sound Ninjas.

It was complete and utter chaos, Shikamaru noted. Though he did his best to help with his Shadow Possession Jutsu, making some of Bad Guys knock themselves out!

* * *

Hours. It took hours, but eventually the children and Senseis managed to defeat the Sound Ninjas and for Kakashi to treat his injury. When it was all said and done, the CopyCat Ninja could only shake his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe they all fell asleep after all that." He sighs.

It was true. Each child was now fast asleep. Though they all looked rather pleased with themselves.

Guy chuckles and shakes his head as well. "Well the Power of Youth is incredible, but even that has its limits." And that was most certainly true.

"How bad are their injuries?" Kakashi sighs as he looks them over.

The Green Beast looks around slowly, checking the children. "Other than some cuts and bruises, it's rather amazing that they got off so lightly." Though it did disturb him to see that children had killed so many grown adults, he wasn't going to dwell on that.

The silver haired ninja nods. "Well I'm glad that's over with. We've got Saiden restrained, so we'll just interrogate him in the Leaf when we get back." Guy nods in agreement.

The CopyCat Ninja couldn't lie though. "I'm still not sure what we're going to do when they all turn back." He takes a deep breath and sighs. "What are we going to do when the Uchihas find out the truth?"

Unbeknownst to Kakashi and Guy, Obito was now listening in the entire conversation. So were his cousins. They pretended to be asleep though. It was easier to get more information that way!

"That the Council ordered it because the Uchihas were planning a Coup?" Guy winces. "I have no idea. How are we supposed to tell Obito and Sasuke that Itachi was forced to do it to prevent a civil war?"

Kakashi sighs heavily. "I don't know. That's what worries me most." He glances at the children. "That and the fact we have a bunch of criminal ninjas in our midst. We don't know if they'll get their memories back or not either." That was another problem.

Could they punish the Akatsuki for crimes they didn't even remember committing? That just seemed fundamentally wrong somehow.

"We'll figure it out, Kakashi." Guy smiles grimly. "We always do and it'll be good to get the Sand Siblings back to the Sand. Gaara is Kazekage, after all."

That much was true. It was a miracle that the Sand Village wasn't beating down their door. The sooner they could get the Sand Siblings back to their home, the better.

The Uchihas continued to feign sleep, but every one of them was now horrified by what they had learned. Their family was dead! Dead because Itachi had killed them and the Leaf had ordered it!

So traumatized were they, that none of them noticed they were getting bigger. Kakashi and Guy certain did though. Mercifully, everyone but the Uchihas remained asleep.

"We're going to need to restrain them." Kakashi sighs. "We can't risk them attacking."

One by one, they tied the children up. The Uchihas feigned being asleep, even now. They'd get more answer from these sneaky Senseis, if they cooperate. In the morning though, there would be **Hell** to pay!


	13. Cornering the Senseis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the other children are savoring their victory, the Uchihas and Naruto corner two of the Senseis for a very important reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

The next morning, Jugo could feel it in the air. He wasn't sure how to articulate it exactly as he was only a kid, but he could sense something was wrong. The Uchihas were being quieter than usual.

"There." Tsunade smiles as she finishes patching up his injuries. "That's better."

She had been busy doing that all morning. Jugo was pretty sure there wasn't a single child who didn't have at least one boo boo from their battle. That was okay though. They had won!

"You know, that wasn't cool!" Suigetsu fumes and crosses his arms. "Having them tie us up after we just saved all your lazy butts!"

Honestly, grown ups were so weird sometimes. He doubted that he'd ever understand them. They had just saved them from being attacked by the Sound Village and their reward was to be tied up, have their boos boos treated, and a Time Out?!

Tsunade's eyes narrow. "Suigetsu, is that your way of saying you want another nap?" Upon hearing this, Suigetsu squeaks.

"Nooo!" Naps were evil!

Karin shakes her head. Suigetsu was Suigetsu. "He's right though!" The idiot was always getting himself in trouble, but she was the only one allowed to yell at him! "We did save the Leaf!"

"Yeah! The Power of Youth saved the day!" Lee grins.

Sakura nods her head energetically at that. "Yeah!" She smiles. "That's right!" She smiles and kisses Lee's cheek. "You were really brave!"

_**THUD!**_ Lee faints. He faints from feeling his beautiful Blossom's lips on his cheek.

Sakura blinks as she rushes to help Lee. "Lee! Are you okay?!" She'd never been so terrified in all her life before! "I didn't kill him, did I?!" Not even during the battle against the Sound!

"Billboard Brow, it's okay!" Ino laughs as she snuggles up to Sai. "He just fainted!"

Sai smiles and nods. That much was obvious. Lee was acting just like Gaara had.

These people were so strange sometimes. Why did they faint when they were happy? Sai didn't think he'd ever understand most of them, but he knew that he liked Ino. She had the most beautiful eyes. He could paint them all day.

"Oh boy." Tsunade sighs as she rushes over to Lee and checks on him.

"What a drag." Shikamaru sighs. "That's a really strong Jutsu."

Suddenly, he eyes Temari in a rather wary fashion. Could **all** girls do that or was it just something that girls from the Leaf could do? Maybe, he was safe because she was from the Sand?

Tsunade sighs as she examines Lee. "He's alright. He'll likely wake up in a few minutes." Thankfully, it appeared to be a rather mild fainting spell.

"Children sure grow up fast these days." Iruka shakes his head in amusement. "My Lady, what are we doing about Saiden by the way?"

Temari's eyes narrow at that. Saiden. So that was the name of the Bad Guy. "I can smack him with my fan until he turns us back!" The one who had turned them into little kids!

"We should blow him up!" Deidara nods. "Yeah?!"

In his mind, that was the most logical solution. That's what you did when you had a problem. You blew it away!

Kazuku rolls his eyes and swats Deidara. "You're an idiot." He shakes his head. "We'll never find out when we're turning back, if we blow him." He grumbles.

"No, but it'd be fun." Kisame grins!

That's when he notices something strange. Hey, where did Itachi go? For that matter, where did all the Uchiha's go?

He looks around anxiously. "Itachi?" Where was his friend? "ITACHI?!" He'd just disappeared like magic. Something strange was going on!

* * *

"So do you think you can make him talk this time?" Kakashi watches Ibiki warily.

The interrogator nods his head. "Oh believe me, he's not getting away a second time!" He then smirks at the CopyCat Ninja. "Besides, those kids either took out or neutralized all his friends. So where would he run?"

That was a frighteningly good point. Kakashi was still a bit terrified at the knowledge. Somehow the children had managed to defeat an entire village full of criminal ninjas and none of them had even gone through puberty yet!

"That's the Power of Youth!" Guy grins at Ibiki. "Well Kakashi, come on. We should head back."

That was true. Goodness knows that Tsunade, Kurenai, and Iruka likely could use the help. Handling that many children at once was never an easy task. This was particularly so when you were dealing with the Rookie Nine, Guy's Team, and the Akatsuki all at once!

He nods in agreement. "You're right." The silver haired ninja smiles as he departs with his friend towards the Academy. "Tsunade, Kurenai, and Iruka are likely going bonkers by now without the extra help." Not that he could blame them!

* * *

At that same moment, Obito, Itachi, and Sasuke were all walking side by side, towards the Interrogation Unit. Itachi was sure that's where the Bad Guy would be. Either they would capture Kakashi and Bushy Brow Sensei and make them talk or they would get their answers from Saiden!

"Wait." Obito blinks as he sees a flash of something yellow nearby. "I think we're being followed."

That causes Sasuke to twitch. It didn't take a genius to realize what was going on. Naruto was follow them. That idiot!

"Hang on!" He growls and looks around until the target was in his sight. "You're such an idiot! You can't sneak up on people when you're blonde and wearing orange!" And with that declaration being made, he did what any smart Uchiha would do…he tackled the Hell out of the blonde.

"AHHH!" Naruto squirms wildly. "Come on, Bastard! Get off of me!" The dark haired boy now had the blonde pinned underneath him.

Obito blinks at the display and looks at Itachi in a rather confused way. Itachi just shrugs. There was a reason why he called Sasuke his foolish little brother. He loved his brother, but he was also very, very foolish!

"It's how they express their love." Itachi shakes his head.

Obito nods knowledgeably. "Kinda like how Kisame plays with your hair." Itachi twitches at that.

"No, it is **NOT** like that!" Itachi glares at him.

It seemed that Sasuke wasn't the only foolish member of their family. That could wait until later though. They had to make plans!

"So what are you guys doing?" Naruto manages to flip Sasuke. "Sneaking around and stuffs?!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "We're going to find either the Bad Guy or the Senseis." He watches Naruto warily. "We've heard a lot of bad stuff about a Massacre."

Narutos eyes widen at that. A Massacre?! Didn't that mean a bunch of people got killed?!

"W-What do you mean?" He stammers out.

Itachi sighs and shakes his head. "We overheard Kakashi talking to Guy. They said that I killed our family to prevent a war!" He might as well be blunt.

"I don't believe it though!" Sasuke nods his head fiercely. "My brother would never do something like that!" He pauses. "Well at least I don't think so." His lip quivers in confusion.

Obito shakes his head in disbelief. "Right. Well lets go." After all, Itachi and Sasuke weren't the only ones with questions. "We'll either corner the Senseis on their way back or find the Bad Guy and make him talk!"

Sasuke nods and glances at Naruto. "If you tackle them, I'll give you Ramen."

Naruto's eyes suddenly light up at that. "Really?" The Bastard had never gotten him Ramen before!

The youngest Uchiha gives a slow and hesitant nod. "Yes, really." After all, desperate times called for desperate measures and no one could deny that this was a desperate time!

"ALRIGHT!" He grins. "Let's go catch us a Bad Guy or a Sensei!" And with that being decided, Naruto drags Sasuke off behind him.

Itachi blinks. Naruto really was perfect for Sasuke. They were both extremely foolish.

"Did that really just happen?" Obito looks at Itachi disbelief.

The middle Uchiha could only nod in confirmation. "That really just happened and we're really going to follow those two and get some answers!" As Naruto would say, _"Believe it!"_

* * *

Hidan laughs back in the day care. He couldn't believe that another boy had been knocked out by a kiss. What a bunch of sissies!

"Pft." He rolls his eyes. "I'd never faint cause some girl kissed my cheek!"

Kiba raises an eyebrow at the loudmouthed boy. This guy was really started to get on his nerves. "Arf! Arf!" Hell, even Akamaru was annoyed!

"That's because no girl would ever want to kiss you in the first place!" He rolls his eyes. "Cause you're a jerk who says bad words!"

Kankuro sighs as he hides behind Neji. He knew what was coming. Those two were going to fight and he didn't want to get in the middle of it.

"Why are you hiding behind me?" Neji looks at him incredulously.

Well the puppet master thought the answer was obvious, but he didn't mind answering the question. "Cause you've got those special eyes and can see when attacks are coming." Kankuro smiles sheepishly. "So we won't get caught up in the middle of their stupid fight."

Tenten smiles at Kankuro's logic. That was a good point! Neji really was the best!

"Yeah." She nods. "He's got a point." She rushes over towards Neji as the fight starts. "Don't worry, we'll protect you Kankuro."

Neji wasn't sure when they decided that. Whatever. He doubted that Tsunade was going to tolerate them fighting for long, anyway!

"STOP FIGHTING OR YOU'RE ALL GOING TO TAKE NAPS!" Iruka's voice bellows throughout the room.

Konan blinks at the sound of the Sensei's angry voice. She'd never heard him get that mad before! It was kinda scary.

She quickly hides behind Pain. "I think we should run again." The blue haired girl whispers to him.

Wisely, all the kids suddenly go quiet at least for a few minutes. Well save for Pain. "Don't worry. If they try to hurt you, they will know Pain!" He smiles at her reassuringly.

"So he's going to be okay then?" Choji looks at Tsunade as he licks a lollipop.

The Fifth Hokage nods her head. "Yes, don't worry about him." She smiles. "He'll be fine.

Gaara nods sagely. It seemed that Lee had just discovered something that he already knew. The Knockout Kiss Jutsu was very powerful!

"Don't tease him, Hidan." The red head narrows his eyes at the loudmouth as his sand separates him from the dog lover. "That's a very strong Jutsu! Perhaps the strongest in the world." He smiles at Hinata, who blushes.

He had a nice smile, Hinata thinks to herself. Though she really didn't understand how her kiss had knocked him out. Then again, Sakura's kiss had done the same thing to Lee.

"Kurenai Sensei, do boys grow out of fainting at the Kiss Knockout Jutsu?" She smiles at the ruby eyed woman.

The Genjutsu Mistress laughs lightly. "Well most of them do." She laughs. "Eventually."

Gaara shakes his head. "I won't faint again!" Hinata could only smile at his words.

"That's good to know." She kisses his cheek again.

Gaara beams when he doesn't faint that time. Though he knew that he was blushing. He'd never blushed before meeting Hinata. So why did he do it around her?

Hinata laughs softly. "Well at least that time you didn't faint." She was used to being the shy one, but in some ways Gaara was shyer than her.

"Y-Yeah." He smiles. "That's progress."

* * *

Meanwhile the Uchihas and Naruto had just seen their targets. Kakashi Sensei and Bushy Brow Sensei. Sasuke had promised Naruto Ramen, if he tackled them, so that's exactly what he was going to do.

"RAMEN, HERE I COME!" Naruto shouts as he jumps towards Kakashi and pins him to the ground.

He didn't really weigh that much, but it was his speed that knocked Kakashi over. The Uchihas realized this and quickly charged at Guy at once. Soon enough, they had tied up the Jonins.

"I can't believe this!" Kakashi sighs. "Defeated by children again!"

He glances at Guy. Maybe, this is what his friend was always talking about. Was this the Power of Youth? If so, it was damn impressive.

"That's right!" Itachi nods as he holds a kunai against Kakashi's throat. "Now, tell us what you know!"

Obito nods in agreement. "You saved us. So we know that you're on our side." His eyes narrows. "Secrets are bad though. That gets you a first class ticket to Stabbing Division!"

Unbelievable! Obito was actually threatening him! While he was still a child!

Sasuke nods his head eagerly. "That's right." They were really serious about this!

His eyes soften and he sighs. "Alright. We'll tell you the truth." Kakashi couldn't believe that he had to do this.

He had to explain the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre to three kids. Life could be so cruel sometimes. It seemed that their second childhoods would be no more pleasant than their first.

* * *

Elsewhere Ibiki was probing Saiden's mind. This time, he would waste no time on small talk. He wasn't going to give the man a chance to escape again.

"AHHH!" No rest for the wicked.

This man was most assuredly that, even by his own admittedly flexible standards. Who would adults into children to make the village more vulnerable to attack? Apparently, Saiden would.

"STOP IT!" He would grant the fiend no mercy though.

No. His Lady Hokage had given him an order and he was going to follow it. He was going to extract the necessary information from this scum!

They had been at it for the better part of the day. That's how long it took to make him crack. "THREE DAYS!" Saiden screams. "Three days at most! Perhaps as few as one though!"

Ibiki smirks. Progress. "And will their memories of before their transformation remain intact?" He had to know.

"That I do not know!" Saiden pants as he tries desperately to make the pain stop. "Just let me go!"

* * *

Back with the Uchihas, Naruto, Kakashi, and Guy, Itachi eyes the two Senseis warily. Could it really be true? Had he killed most of their family?

He had always known that things were tense between his Clan and the rest of the Village, but had things really deteriorated to such a degree that a _genocide_ was necessary?! "Tell us the truth and do not spare our feelings." He might be young, but he was old enough to realize that they all needed to know the truth.

"Most people are unaware of the true circumstances behind the Massacre." Itachi nods in understanding. "It was only those at the very top who know and even then, most of us didn't know until after the fact."

Sasuke's eyes widen in horror as it dawns on him what the Jonin was saying. He was saying that it was true! That Itachi had really killed their family and that the Leaf had _ordered_ him to do it.

"Kakashi, don't you dare stop talking!" Obito glares at him. "Or I will start stabbing!"

Guy glances at them warily. This wasn't good. This was the opposite of the Power of Youth.

His heart ached for his friend. This couldn't be easy for him. Particularly since Itachi and Obito were both his former teammate. Things were even more personal when it came to Sasuke though. The boy had been his student!

"The Uchiha Clan was planning to take over the Leaf." Kakashi lets out a shaky breath. "It wasn't entirely their fault. After the Nine Tail's attack there were those who thought the Uchiha Clan was behind it." There was no point in stopping now, he knew. "It was their belief that if they didn't strike first, the Leaf would have." That didn't make it any less painful though.

Itachi's eyes widen and Kakashi could see the gears in his mind turning. The young boy was already doing the mental calculations. He had always wondered how young Itachi had been when he first realized that something was amiss. He supposed that it he was about to find out now.

"If our Clan had attacked, the village would have fought back." He looks at Sasuke with sad eyes. "It would have been a blood bath. A Civil War would have broken out." And the silver haired man knew that it was only a matter of time before those unshed tears were cried.

Sasuke's eyes narrow with an expression that looked so utterly alien on his adorable face. One that should never appear on the face of any child that young. Ruthless calculation.

"It's okay, Itachi." He looks at his brother. "I know you wouldn't have done it, if you didn't have to." His eyes soon lock on Kakashi. "Who gave the order?"

Naruto was watching the entire thing stunned. He could only place his hand on Sasuke's back reassuringly. He didn't know what else to do.

"Whoever did it, we'll make them pay." He promises Sasuke.

Sasuke might be a Bastard, but the youngest Uchiha was his Bastard. No one messed with Sasuke. Well no one other than him (or maybe, Itachi)!

Obito watches Kakashi anxiously. He had to know. Who had ordered the death of his family and why didn't any of them remember it?!

Kakashi winces as though he was in great pain. "Danzo played a large part in it." He didn't want to give them a name, but they were going to find out.

He could see it in their eyes. The boys were determined to find out and so they would. The CopyCat Ninja didn't know how, but they would. That much was obvious. These were the same kids who had helped to defeat an entire village. Nothing was impossible.

"Then we're going to kill Danzo." Sasuke growls.

Some things never changed. Sasuke still wanted revenge for his family. Though the silver haired ninja couldn't suppress a feeling of dread at the knowledge that so did Obito and even Itachi.

Itachi had been thirteen when he had been given that order. Somehow, he had understood what needed to be done. He had never carried a grudge, even at that young age.

This was apparently a bridge too far though. "I understand how you feel." His eyes never leave them. "But Itachi gave up so much in order to prevent a war. Do you really want to start one now?"

"We need a huddle." Itachi sighs.

Naruto looks confused at that. "A huddle?" Sasuke rolls his eyes and pulls the blonde over towards him, Obito, and Itachi.

Honestly, he loved Naruto, but the blonde could be an idiot sometimes. Wait. What?! Had he really just thought that?!

Nah. It couldn't be. It was just the stress of losing his family. He wasn't in love with Naruto, but the other boy was going to help them avenge the Uchiha Clan! So maybe, they could be friends.

"Not that kind of huddle." Itachi shakes his head. "Tsukuyomi."

* * *

Before Naruto knew what was happening, they were trapped in a black and red world. A world that looked like it was some kind of family neighborhood, save for the color.

"No way!" Obito grins. "You can do the Tskukyomi?!"

Itachi merely nods as if t his was perfectly normal. Though Naruto still had no clue what the Hell was going on. Thankfully, the middle Uchiha didn't seem to mind explaining.

"Yes, while we're here, they can't hear us." He pauses and adds. "We need to come up with a plan. A plan that won't get us locked up."

Naruto frowns and nods. "Yeah. They'll probably lock us up, if they think we're going to kill that Danzo guy." That was annoying!

Sasuke shakes his head. Damn it! They couldn't just sit around and do nothing!

"So what we have to do is make them think we're not gonna do anything." Obito smirks.

Itachi blinks for a moment and then nods slowly. "We'll simply pretend to be scared of Danzo and cling to each other." He nods again. "And when the time is right, we'll end him."

Sasuke tilts his head to the side as he considers that. He would have preferred to go and find Danzo now. That evil man was the reason why his mother and father were apparently gone. Why most of their Clan was gone! He deserved to pay!

His brother and Obito were right though. This was the smarter choice. For now, they'd just have to put their acting skills to the test.

"Alright." He looks at Naruto. "Think you can handle that, Loser?"

Naruto nods dumbly. "Yeah. Pretend to be afraid." He nods again. "I can do it! Believe it!" And with that, Itachi releases the Jutsu.

* * *

Kakashi watches as the children are slowly released from one of the Sharingan's ultimate techniques. He didn't know what had been said inside Itachi's world, but he knew that it was important.

"We're not going to do anything stupid." Itachi promises Kakashi and Guy as he embraces Sasuke. "We don't want to risk losing anyone else."

Naruto starts bawling. "What if that bad man comes back though?!" The waterworks were intense to say the least.

Sasuke was in shock, really. Who knew that the blonde was such a good actor?!

Kakashi sighs as he embraces Naruto. "Don't worry." He was actually falling for it. "We'll make sure nothing bad happens to any of you."

"That's a promise!" Guy flashes them a smile as he embraces Obito and Naruto tightly, while Kakashi does the same to the Uchiha Brothers. "The Power of Youth makes it impossible for me to go back on a promise! So don't worry about anything!"

For a moment, Sasuke almost felt guilty. He almost felt guilty about "lying" to them. This was too easy, really. That was until he remembered that Danzo was the reason why his parents were dead. That made lying a much easier thing to do!

One way or another, Danzo was going to pay. Between the four of them, they should be able to manage this with ease. There was even a chance they could get some of the other children to join them! Maybe, Gaara would squish the bastard to death with his sand. That would be nice.


	14. War Council

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children convene a War Council to decide what to do about Danzo as Saiden meets his grisly end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.

The next day, Itachi watches his "classmates" with wary eyes. He supposed that was the most accurate term to address them by. That or comrades. After all, they had defeated the Sound Ninja together.

"Itachi, don't worry." Sasuke smiles at him reassuringly. "We'll figure this out and we'll make Danzo pay for what he did to our family."

The elder Uchiha Brother could only nod at that. He didn't want to spoil the other boy's delusion. The delusion that everything would always work out and that happy endings were a given.

Sasuke was young enough, that he was allowed to have such fantasies. Hell, they should be encouraged really. Not Itachi though. He was now old enough in this body to begin breaking away from the fairytale mindset.

Speaking of tails, it looked Kisame was making his way over to them. "Alright. I've convened the War Council." He grins at him. "So come on, Gorgeous. You can tell us what the heck is going on. No more cloak and dagger stuff!"

Itachi really didn't know why he and Sasuke were forever doomed to be called beautiful or some variation of that. Obito never was. If anyone commented on his looks, it was mostly to call him cute. Which had a slightly more masculine connotation at least!

Whatever. That wasn't his chief concern now. His chief concern was the War Council!

"Thank you, Kisame." He smiles at the other boy and kisses his cheek. "We really do appreciate it." He was very mindful of the gills, of course.

Kisame was quite the unique individual. Half the time, Itachi expected him to sprout a tail like a merman and swim off somewhere. The other half of the time, he was trying to convince Kisame that despite his luxurious raven locks and long eyelashes, he was very much not a girl!

Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course. Being a girl was okay, but he was a boy damn it! And he deserved to be treated that way!

* * *

Elsewhere Kakashi sighs as he rereads that last line for what seemed like the hundredth time. Not even his favorite book could fully distract him from what had happened earlier that day and sleep held no sway over him.

"Not again." He shakes his head.

Why did it seem that Fate had it out for the Uchiha Clan and all those children? Now, Naruto was utterly terrified and it was more likely than not that the Uchihas were as well.

That and what was he supposed to do about Obito? Obito didn't seem to remember anything, but that might not be the case for long. What if their memories returned when they changed back?

"Ibiki believes that they'll change back soon, but he doesn't know about their memories." And that was frankly disturbing.

_Ibiki strolled into the Academy, just after the children had been put down for a nap. The grim expression on his face told Kakashi that the man probably didn't come baring good news. Still, he would gladly accept whatever news the man did bring them._

_Anything was better than waiting. Waiting was the hardest part. Not knowing what was going to happen to these kids and feeling absolutely helpless._

_"The good news is that they'll likely turn back in one day, if we're lucky." He shakes his head and sighed. "Three if we aren't. Of course, that's assuming the bastard is telling truth."_

_Guy looked at their colleague seriously. "Do you have reason to suspect that he wasn't?" Other than he was a criminal who had tried to take over the world, Kakashi mused to himself? "You probed his mind. Didn't you?"_

_Tsunade sighed and gestured for Ibiki to continue. Like Kakashi, it seemed that she was quite eager to get on with the business of fixing all this!_

_"I did a mind probe, yes." Several most likely, the CopyCat Ninja mentally corrected the interrogator. "It's rare, but someone with great skill could have outmaneuvered me. I believe the information to be accurate though."_

_Kurenai nodded in understanding. "When they change back, will they have the memories of their previous adulthood?" Well adulthood might have been stretching it a bit in some cases, but the silver haired ninja digressed. Her basic point was sound._

_Ibiki shook his head and looked more than a little guilty. "I'm afraid that I don't know the answer to that question." Damn it! "It seemed Saiden didn't even know."_

_Iruka blinked and looked more than a little panicked. Not that Kakashi could blame them. Ibiki had just given them ample reason to do so._

_"We have several members of the Akatsuki here!" He flailed in outrage. "If they get their memories back, this won't end well."_

That wasn't the only reason to panic though. Kakashi knew an even better one. The Uchihas.

"Why can't anything ever be easy?" The CopyCat Ninja sighs to himself.

* * *

Neji's eyes the other children who had gathered around in a very large circle warily. "Stick closely to me, Tenten." He didn't know what he would do, if anything were to happen to his friend.

"Alright." The brunette smiles at him reassuringly. "I will. Don't worry."

She really did have a pretty smile, but that was besides the point. Fate could be a cruel mistress sometimes. That was why Neji was always on guard about such things!

Perhaps not surprisingly, Sakura was one of the first children to speak. "Alright. So what's going on?" She looks around curiously. "Who called the meeting and why?"

"Yeah!" Ino nods her head in agreement. "Billboard Brow is right. We've all got a right to know what is going on?!"

Shikamaru shakes his head in annoyance. Girls could be such a drag sometimes. Why were they always so loud and fighting about everything? Well except maybe, Temari and even then that was a fifty/fifty situation!

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME, INO PIG?!" Sakura snarls at the other girl.

Lee blinks and immediately gets between his Sakura Blossom and the other girl. This could get ugly and fast. Obviously, it was up to him to make sure that it didn't.

"Ino, that was not very youthful to make fun of the most beautiful girl in the whole world!" He beams at the pink haired girl. "And Sakura, that was not very youthful to make fun of Ino!"

Gaara shakes his head. "Sand Coffin!" To everyone's horror the sand starts to go after Lee.

"Gaara, what are you doing!" Hinata pleads with him. "Please stop!"

The red head looks at her in confusion. He really didn't get why his princess was defending that clearly very stupid boy? It wasn't bad enough that he had blindingly white teeth, bushy brows, a loud mouth, and wore spandex? Now, he was trying to pretend that his princess wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world?!

He looks at Hinata in confusion. "It would upset you, if I was to kill him?" The red head simply didn't understand that at all.

Hinata blinks and nods quickly. Yes, yes it would upset her a great deal. She didn't understand why violence was usually Gaara's first impulse, if it didn't have to do with her. Still, she knew deep down that he had a good heart and that was what she was going to show everyone.

"Yes, it would upset me." She nods again.

Gaara rolls his eyes at a flailing Lee and releases him. "Alright, but clearly he is either stupid or needs his eyes checked." He smiles at Hinata. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world. Not the bubblegum head!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Karin demands as she glares at Gaara. "I'm clearly, the most beautiful girl!"

Konan raises an eyebrow. Honestly, she was surrounded by very dumb children. This was such a silly thing to fight about.

The answer was obvious, anyway. "I'm the most beautiful girl in the world." She smiles and gestures to Pain. "Don't you think so Pain?"

Pain smiles at his best friend and nods pleasantly. "Yes, I quite agree." He glares at everyone else. "And anyone who disagrees shall know Pain!"

Sai looks around in confusion. He didn't understand why everyone was fighting about this. The answer was clear as day, anyway.

"Well I am an artist and I believe that means my opinion carries more weight." He smiles cheerfully. "And I believe Ino is the prettiest."

Shikamaru yawns loudly as he shakes his head. "It's a drag that I even have to weigh in on this, but Temari is obviously the best looking." This of course, draws a smile from the feisty blonde girl and the lazy boy considered that a job well done!

"Yeah!" Temari grins. "He's totally right about that!"

Hidan rolls his eyes and smashes his fist on the ground. "Listen up you Losers, we've got something more important to focus on!" He'd had it up to hear with hearing everyone fight over who was the prettiest girl. "You're all being stupid! So whoever called this meeting, can you shut them up?!"

Gaara nods in agreement as his sand whirls around the War Council, making sure the adults wouldn't be able to stumble on them. After all, that would negate the entire point.

"He's right." The red head smiles. "Besides, Mr. Squishy agrees with me that Hinata is the prettiest, so that settles that, anyway!"

* * *

Meanwhile Tsunade sighs as she goes to check on the children. After everything that had happened recently, she didn't feel safe letting them out of her sight for even a moment. So that was the reason why she was sneaking around the Academy in the dead of night. Someone had to do it.

"Hmm." It looks like they're still asleep.

That was a good sigh. Maybe, things would finally go back to normal soon. The children were supposed to transform back soon and if that happened, well she was sure they'd all be alerted immediately.

She rubs her temples just thinking about it. "That's a migraine waiting to happen, but at least we'll have the element of surprise on them." If worse came to worst, they could just dart them.

Little did Tsunade know that those bumps underneath the sleeping bags, weren't actually the children. The child geniuses had all gotten together and stolen some pumpkins from a nearby field.

They had swiftly put the pumpkins underneath the blankets where their heads would be. "I'm really glad that I never became a mother." She shakes her head and sighs. "If this is what it was like, it's positively exhausting and I have no idea how anyone could do it for years at a time!"

She had only been at this a few days. This was insanity. "Then again, it's not as if these are ordinary children." Maybe, that was why.

Perhaps, it wouldn't have been so bad, if she didn't know that at least nine of these children were going to grow up to become deadly criminals in the Akatsuki. Oh and four more would be members of Taka! And that was before she even factored in that two of them had possessed a Tailed Beast.

"Maybe, I should get another drink." Yes, that sounded like a good idea!

* * *

Back at the War Council, Shino had decided he'd had quiet enough of this foolish nonsense. So he had his insects swarm everyone until they settled down. It had been getting pretty ridiculous to say the least!

"There." He sighs heavily. "Now, that everyone is quiet…will someone please tell everyone what is going on?"

Kiba blinks at all the insects which were now disappearing. Shino could be pretty scary sometimes. One minute, he was all quiet and the next minute he was sicking a hive of bees at you or something!

"No idea, but the whole bug thing is getting pretty creepy." He clings to Akamaru, who barks in agreement.

Shino twitches. "I can send some fire ants down your pants, if you don't leave me alone!" Gggrr. DogBoy really annoyed him.

Zetsu blinks at all this. Things were rapidly getting out of hand. Perhaps, it was time to step in?

"Everyone stop fighting." He smiles. "We're all friends here. There's no need to fight."

"QUIET FLOWERBOY!" Kiba and Shino both hiss at him.

Upon being called Flowerboy again, Zetsu sighs and an anime cloud of gloom hangs over his head. Not again! Why did everyone call him that?!

Itachi shakes his head. Well he supposed it was now or never. Things were starting to get more and wild.

"It seems that when we were transformed into children, our memories were lost to us." Itachi sighs and continues on. "It's uncertain if this is a permanent or temporary situation, but we've discovered something very important that may be of interest to all of you." He gestures towards his family members and Naruto to explain who we was in this context.

Naruto nods energetically. "Itachi is right!" The blonde flails around in a rather energetic fashion. "There's a new bad guy out there! His name is Danzo and he had the other Uchihas killed!"

It was probably best to leave out the part where Itachi was the killer, he decides. Naruto might not have been a prodigy, but well that just seemed like the smart thing to do to him. Mostly because he didn't want to get Sasuke's brother in trouble!

There were gasps heard from the other children and it wasn't hard to figure out why, Jugo determines. They were all shocked that someone had wiped out nearly an entire Clan. That was genocide (and genocide was very, very bad)!

"Well that's just not cool!" Deidara's eyes narrow. "Killing our friends' family is not cool!" He flails dramatically. "We should show them how much of an explosion art is and teach them a lesson!"

"YEAH!" A chorus of yeahs is heard and Deidara grins.

He knew that eventually, everyone would catch onto his way of seeing things. It was wonderful that that they were all beginning to appreciate his style of art and manner of speaking!

Kakuzu nods in approval at this. "Yeah. We should kick their butts." He pauses and adds as an afterthought. "If they could do this to one family, they could do it to any of us!"

* * *

Meanwhile Saiden was panting. He was half mad, tormented by horrifying images. He was only barely aware of someone coming into his room.

He was too far gone too care though. "Eh, he's a mad dog." A member of ROOT glances at the pitiful excuse for a ninja.

"Yeah. Best to put him out of his misery." A second ninja nods in agreement.

So that's precisely what they did. Almost before he knew what was happening, Saiden felt himself picked up by one of the ninjas. He was still chained to the wall, so it wasn't as though he could escape.

"NOOO!" His senses return to him just enough to realize what was going on. "You can't kill me! I'm leading a glorious revolution in Lord Orochimaru's name!"

The idea that he could die was just unfathomable. There had to be a way to escape this mess with his life. Perhaps, he could offer them posts after the Leaf Village was overthrown?

"Sorry about that, pal." The first smirks. "Not every revolution is successful and think of it this way, you're now a martyr for Lord Orochimaru." And before he could issue a retort, the second slashed his throat.

"Hey!" The Nira protests.

Nira was the first ninja who had entered the room. Not only had Tai spoiled his fun, he had also thrown away the chance to get more information out of the idiot!

Tai merely rolls his eyes in response. "You were dragging it out too much." He mutters in disgust. "Lord Danzo said to kill him. Not to humor his delusions of grandeur." He smirks at the pouting ninja. "So let's go." And with that, the two men Flickered off…leaving Saiden's bloody corpse behind for someone to find in the morning.

* * *

"That's true." Kankuro observes back at the War Council. "This guy sounds like very bad news!"

If the guy was capable of killing an entire family, Danzo was capable of doing anything. And he damn sure wasn't going to let anyone hurt his family!

Sure, Temari was bossy and Gaara was scary, but they were still his brother and sister! That meant something!

Choji nods in agreement as he munches on some chips. This guy sounded even worse than the Sound Ninjas and those guys had been awful. So that meant they'd have to deal with him.

"Well if we can beat up a whole village, one guy shouldn't be too hard." He looks around. "What do you guys think?" Though obviously, the more of them that ganged up on this evil person, the better their chances of success would be!

Was it possible that battles were like potato chips? Was it impossible to have just one? Hmm. That was an interesting thought.

He'd have to ponder it more later. Maybe, he should ask his parents about that later! When they were back to normal!

"I think that we should kick some butt!" Suigetsu grins merrily. "I'm more than willing to serve in the Explosive Division again!"

There were echoes of agreement from everyone. Obito couldn't help, but smile at that fact. It seemed that their friends were more than willing to come to their aid. Now, they just had to use that to their advantage.

"Good. Then it's decided." Obito smiles more. "We'll kill Danzo!"

Tenten looks at Obito. There was really just one big problem in her mind. Well actually, two.

"Um do we know where Danzo is and how we're going to sneak by the Senseis again?" She rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

Obito deflates a little bit at that and shakes his head. "Well no." Not yet, anyway.

Gaara smiles and walks over to Hinata. "It seems that we're going to be fighting again." He hands his most prized possession. "So I want you to take Mr. Squishy." His teddy bear. "He will protect you. He's a good luck charm and very soft too!"

Hinata smiles and takes Mr. Squishy. "Thank you, Gaara." She then tilts her head to the side. "Though shouldn't you be focusing on helping us win the fight more?"

He shakes his head. His princess came first. Everything else came second!

"I will." He looks at them. "I'll have the sand break open the windows and we can get out that way."

Naruto blinks at that idea. "Won't they hear the windows breaking though?" That seemed like a plan that might not end well.

Sasuke also blinks. Holy smokes! It was a miracle! His lovable dumb blonde had actually had an **intelligent** thought!

He couldn't help it, he glomps the other boy. "Loser, that's the smartest thing that I've ever heard you say." He grins at him. "I'm proud of you!"

Naruto blushes. His Bastard was actually proud of him! That made him really happy!

So he did what most people did when they were happy. He kisses Sasuke's cheek and suddenly there was a loud thud! Oh. Apparently, it wasn't only girls that had that power.

"The Kiss Knockout Jutsu strikes again." Kisame laughs and looks at Itachi. "Do you think that it would work on you?"

Itachi shakes his head and sighs. Honestly, why was everyone so obsessed with kissing? Didn't they have more important matters to focus on?!

"I keep telling everyone that is a very powerful Jutsu." Gaara nods sagely.

Lee bounds over to the red head. Apparently, he had already forgotten that Gaara had tried to kill him. Mostly because he was on a mission for his precious Cherry Blossom!

"How do you defeat the Jutsu?!" He poses heroically. "I must do it for my Cherry Blossom!"

"Sand gag." Gaara rolls his eyes as he gags the other child again.

Konan shakes her head. Well at least the Sand Villagers knew how to use their talents wisely. She had to give them that. Still, that didn't answer Naruto's very good questions.

"Does anyone actually have a plan to deal with the fact that if Gaara shatters the windows, the adults will come running?" A plan seemed a bit necessary once that factor was considered.

"I could put chakra earplugs in them." Jugo suggests merrily.

Sai blinks at that as he considers it. "Well if you think you could sneak into that many rooms without getting caught, that seems like a good idea." Though the artist wasn't sure how he would ever manage that.

"We'll just have to divide up the task." Obito shakes his head. "Send our sneakiest people. Itachi, Konan, Temari, Shino, and Neji will probably work." He pauses as he does the math. "We need Kakashi, Guy, Tsunade, Iruka, and Kurena all taken care of. So that's five kids for five adults." Obito finishes, feeling enormously pleased with himself.

Suigetsu nods. Yeah. That seemed like a good idea. He would have liked to go on this high profile mission, but he just wasn't sneaky enough. He preferred being more direct, really!

"Alright. Well we've got that straightened out." There was just one other problem. "How are we going to find this Danzo guy though?"

Shikamaru yawns and stretches. "What a drag. We'll need to do some scouting." This was going to be really troublesome! "Jugo and Itachi can send their birds. Sai can send some paintings. Gaara can do his sand eye and Shino can send his insects." He pauses and adds. "And we also have two Byakugan Users who will come in handy at a time like this!"

Temari squeals and glomps him. "You're so smart!" And women were weird!

He never would have pictured Temari as the glomping type, but apparently she was. Shikamaru wasn't even ten yet, but he doubted that he would ever understand girls if he lived to be a hundred!

"Um thanks." The lazy ninja shakes his head. "So let's do this?" He places his hand in the center of the War Council's circle.

Soon enough, everyone places their hand either on top of his or on top of someone else's. "YEAH!" There was a chorus of agreement and with that, Shikamaru supposed the matter was settled.

It was going to be a drag, but they were going to kill Danzo. It was really the only way to keep everyone safe. It had to be done.

"Ewe!" Sakura makes a face. "Gross! I felt a mouth against my hand!"

Deidara laughs loudly. "Sorry! Yeah?" He grins and shows his hands. "I've always had them!" And with that, Lee punches the blonde to protect his Cherry Blossom!

"That wasn't very youthful!" He twitches as he makes his way over to Sakura. "Are you alright, My Love?" Hearts and sparkles appear in his eyes as he approaches her.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sakura smiles. "Thank you, for protecting me."

Itachi just smacks his forehead. Oh boy. This was going to be one very long mission! These people couldn't focus on anything other than fighting and kissing!


	15. Killer Bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the children prepare for war against Danzo, Shino makes an amusing observation about the Uchihas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. For your convenience, I've listed the Divisions below. Happy reading!
> 
> Explosive Division: Suigetsu, Deidara, Kiba, and Kankuro.
> 
> Stabbing Division: Kisame, Jugo, Obito, Kakuzu, Lee
> 
> Sneaky Division: Itachi, Zetsu, Temari, and Shino
> 
> Kamikaze Division: Sasuke, Naruto, Konan, Pain, and Tenten.
> 
> Defensive Division: Gaara, Sai, Shikamaru, and Choji.
> 
> Support Division: Hidan, Sakura, Karin, Ino, Hinata, and Neji.

_An hour._ It had taken an hour for the everyone to get into position. Kinda. More specifically, it had taken that long to ensure all the adults were wearing earplugs.

"We're ready!" Shino nods at Gaara.

That was the signal, Sasuke thinks to himself. His entire body tense with anticipation, despite having recently fainted. It was now or never! They were going to make Danzo pay for what he had done to his family!

Shino couldn't help, but eye Sasuke warily. He could sense it in the Uchihas. All of them, but especially the youngest. Even his insects had taken notice.

The Uchiha Family was out for blood and lots of it. Killer Bees. That's what they reminded him of at the moment.

The red head nods. "Everyone be ready to run on three." Though at least Gaara seemed to know what to do in this situation.

Which was a good thing because Shino didn't. The Uchihas were a hive of very angry bees and if Danzo wasn't stopped, they might turn their stingers on the nearest available targets! Them!

"Oh quit stalling and just do it!" Suigetsu swings his sword around.

He was happy to have a real sword now. Well kinda. This one was made out of Jugo's chakra, but the white haired boy didn't really care about that.

The blade was capable of cutting and stabbing things and really, that's what mattered most. Everything else was an afterthought. Speaking of stabbing though, he was eager to get on with this new mission and beat up Danzo! Which was why he was so annoyed that Gaara was stalling!

"Don't rush him!" Temari hisses at him. "Do you want to get everyone cut by the glass, you idiot?!"

Honestly, boys could be really annoying sometimes! She was so glad that Shikamaru was smarter than most of them. Otherwise, she probably would have had to beat him up too! Like she did with Suigetsu!

"One." Gaara begins to count.

Lee shakes his head as he stands between Suigetsu and Temari. "Friends, let's not fight!" He wasn't going to allow for such a thing to happen!

They were all friends and their army was going to defeat the wicked Danzo. They couldn't do that though, if they were all fighting each other!

Gaara apparently either didn't hear him or didn't care. "Two." Every takes several steps back from the windows upon hearing the second number called out.

"Lee, you're going to get yourself killed!" Neji seethes as he makes sure that the eccentric boy wasn't anywhere near the windows. "It's very honorable that you want to keep the peace, but not at the expense of losing your own life to your allies!"

"THREE!" Gaara shouts and everyone gets low on the ground as his sand slams into the windows.

The glass flew everywhere. Luckily though, everyone had known it was coming. So they had ducked and the red head had used some of his other sand to protect them.

"Your boyfriend is amazing. Scary, but amazing." Ino blinks at Hinata.

Hinata nods in agreement as she darts through one of the now open windows. She knew that. He just had to watch his temper is all. She smiles at that thought as she huggles Mr. Squishy tightly to her chest.

"Come on!" She looks back towards the windows as the other children quickly make their way through them. "We need to h-hurry!" And that was the truth because the adults would likely only be asleep for a few hours at most!

* * *

Meanwhile Danzo nods at Tai and Nira. Good. This was good news. He was in his office, even during this hour because well the man was an insomniac and it was quieter at night. That made it easier to think.

"And you're quite certain that the bastard is dead?" He demands.

He had to be absolutely sure of this. Nothing could be overlooked. An adult Itachi could be reasoned with. The same might no be true of a child Itachi.

Nira nods his head in confirmation. "We slit his throat." That thought brought a smile to the elderly ninja's face. "He's gone, Lord Danzo."

Excellent. Now, he just had to make sure the Uchihas never found out the truth about the Massacre again. It was unpleasant, but killing them now would be best.

He couldn't risk Sasuke finding out the truth and wanting revenge. Perhaps even worse than that though was Itachi changing his mind and revealing the truth to the rest of the village. He'd be tried for the war crime of genocide.

"Good." He frowns as he considers that possibility. "Now, we just need to find the Uchiha Children and dispatch them as quickly as possible."

It wasn't that the leader of ROOT relished the idea of killing children. Far from it, but it had to be done. This was the only way to protect himself and the Leaf from the seedy underbelly of this place.

Every village had one, especially every ninja village. It was merely a matter of how well they hid the ROOTS so to speak. That much was obvious.

"Yes, Lord Danzo." They bow to him. "It will be done."

Most of the Hokages had been ridiculously naïve and idealistic. The only real exception was Tobirama and to varying degrees Sarutobi. Danzo didn't suffer from that delusion though.

He saw the world as it truly was. The elderly ninja didn't see it as he wished it would be. He was a practical man and that was the real reason why he should be Hokage and not that damn Tsunade!

Hashirama's granddaughter sat in the chair that should be his! It was maddening. Perhaps even more so than when that damn brat Minato took over. That whelp had barely been old enough to be considered a man when he had been elected! Absurd!

"That's going to prove problematic though." Nira eyes him warily. "Tsuande, Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and Iruka are all watching those children closely."

He shrugs. Danzo didn't particularly care about the other children. "It's the Uchihas we want and if you're able, get the Kazekage as well." He would make for an excellent bargaining tool.

"Yes, Lord Danzo." Tai nods his head. "It will be done."

Good. It was good to see that his ROOT Members were still completely loyal to him. That reminded Danzo of something though. Sai. Sai had also been turned into a child. That was annoying.

That boy had so much promise. So much promise in fact, that he had sent the artist to kill Sasuke Uchiha. Truly, it was a shame that he hadn't managed it.

Things would have been much easier, if he had. "Good! Now go!" He bellows at two of his agents, before they swiftly depart.

They weren't entirely stupid. Those two knew what happened to anyone who failed him. They died screaming.

* * *

A few minutes later, the army had made it back to the Forest of Death. That thought wasn't lost on Karin. For some reason, they always ended up back here.

"Alright. We need to find Danzo." She shivers as she watches a large snake slither off in the distance. "Preferably before we get eaten by something!"

Jugo smiles at Karin reassuringly. "Don't worry." He didn't want any of his friends to be scared. "We'll find him and figure this out. That and we have each other. If anything did attack us, we can handle it." He'd never really had friends before. Well other than Kimimaro.

Where was Kimimaro anyway? For some reason, he hadn't seen the other boy at all since they transformed into children? He hadn't been in the Sound either.

He'd have to look for him later. Kimimaro was strong. He could handle himself. Jugo just knew it!

"That's right, but we should do a headcount first." Konan nods.

So she proceeds to start doing that. Obviously, someone had to take charge. It might as well be her!

"What a drag?" Shikamaru looks around as he places his hands behind his head casually. "Did we lose anybody?"

That wouldn't end well, if they did. Their strength obviously came from their diversity. There were so many of them that they could attack from all sides at once with different methods.

The strategy had proven effective at the Sound. So Shikamaru was sure it would prove effective against one man. He had heard the name Danzo before, but he couldn't remember where. So that meant he was probably important somehow.

"Yes, everyone is here." Pain nods, after awhile. "I'm a faster counter than Konan."

That comment made Konan twitch, but Pain knew it was true. So did she. His angel would just have to face that very simple fact. There was really no use getting upset over it.

Kisame shakes his head as he looks at Itachi. "So does anyone actually know anything about this guy?" It was a logical question.

So Itachi didn't mind answering it. "He's elderly, but he's really strong." Itachi sighs at that knowledge as he remembers one very important fact about Danzo. "Strong enough that he's been considered for Hokage several times. This won't be easy."

He had heard his mother and father talk about Danzo before. Mostly because Fugaku had also been considered for the post once. So it was only natural.

Itachi didn't remember much about Danzo, but he knew that he wouldn't be easily killed. If that was the case, his older self surely would have already done it. Still, they two very important advantages on him.

"Right!" Naruto nods as he claps Sasuke on the back. "So he's an old guy that used to be a hotshot!" He grins. "He's still outnumbered and I doubt he knows a bunch of kids are going to attack him. So we have the element of surprise on our side!"

The youngest Uchiha blinks. "You said something smart again." This really was as miracle, he decides.

"Why do you say that like it's so shocking, you jerk?!" Naruto fumes.

Sasuke just shakes his head. Some things never changed. The idiot just didn't know how to take a compliment!

He was lucky he was cute! "Whatever. Just so you don't get any funny ideas about your Kiss Knockout Jutsu being better than mine, here." He kisses Naruto's cheek.

_**THUD!**_ Naruto couldn't believe it! Sasuke had kissed him! His poor little childish mind was overwhelmed at that knowledge and so he fainted.

Kankuro blinks as yet another person passed out from a kiss to the cheek! Sheesh! This was becoming a pattern.

"I guess Gaara wasn't joking." That really was a powerful Jutsu! "So far the Kiss Knockout Jutsu works at least once on everyone that it's been tried on."

* * *

At that same moment, Tai and Nira were currently leaving to meet up with some of the other members of ROOT who were guarding the outside of Danzo's Office. Maybe, one of them would have useful information!

"So have you seen these brats?" Nira looks at one of their comrades.

The other ROOT Member shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. I believe that they're at the Academy." Ah that made sense, Tai thinks to himself.

That would be one of the places where Tsunade had the most control. Well other than the hospital, but it would be impossible to hide away that many children there. Someone would notice them. Be it a visitor, patient, or worker.

"Alright." Tai nods. "Then that's where we'll go." He glances at his companion. "We've better hurry."

One didn't keep Lord Danzo waiting. Well not unless they were suicidal, he mentally corrects himself. That man had a foul temper, even if he tried to hide it in public.

Nira nods in agreement and flits off after Tai. "You're right." He smirks. "Besides, how hard can it really be to handle some kids?"

That was a good question. Tai wasn't really sure, if he knew the answer though. These weren't just any kids. Some of these kids would grow up to be some of the most powerful ninjas in the Five Great Nations one day.

"I wouldn't get too cocky." He shakes his head. " We don't really know what we're in for yet." And with that thought in mind, the two men race off towards the Academy in search of the children!

* * *

Back with the children, Kakuzu shakes his head. "Well we still need to find him." If they were going to kill Danzo, they definitely needed to do that first.

Fortunately, they had a plan for that. A good plan in his mind. It was too bad that killing Danzo wouldn't get them any money, but at least it would be fun!

"How long will it take to find this guy?" Hidan raises an eyebrow as he sees some birds to take to the sky.

They belonged to Itachi, Jugo, and Sai. Jugo's were just normal birds. Itachi's were crow Summons and Sai had drawn his. It really was amazing what some of these other kids could do, he observes.

"Don't be so impatient." Ino shakes her head as she smiles at Sai. "They'll find the bad guy!"

Sai was amazing, really! His drawings could come to life and he thought she was the prettiest girl! Ino was definitely going to marry him one day!

The artist smiles back at Ino. She really seemed to like his drawings. Which was nice because normally his brother was the only one who really cared about them. Well at least that had been the case before coming here.

Maybe, they had all been brought together for a reason. And that reason might very well have been to defeat Danzo. To make him pay for all the bad things he had done over the years!

Tenten shakes her head. "Well with Shino's bugs, Gaara's sand, and the Byakugan, I don't think it should take too long." Neji was fantastic!

He could seriously do anything! With or without his eyes! He was so smart and protective of her. She wondered when he was going to do the Kiss Jutsu for her!

"Tenten, are you okay?" Choji looks at her in concern as he sees stars appear in her eyes.

Girls could be really strange sometimes. You never really know what was going on in their minds. He was glad that he was a guy. It was a lot less complicated!

The brunette nods. "Yes, I'm fine." She smiles at him.

* * *

Obito had climbed the tallest tree that he could find. He could see everything from up there. If Danzo was lurking about, they were going to find him.

There was just one problem. He had no idea what Danzo looked like. Oh well. He'd just scout the area to see which building was the most heavily guarded besides the Hokage's Office/the Academy.

"He's supposed to be a big shot." So he'd have a lot of guards. "It only makes sense." He murmurs tog himself.

Thankfully, that didn't take too long to locate it. So Obito jumps down from the tree, rather victoriously.

* * *

"Uchihas are like cats." Kiba rolls his eyes when he sees Obito jump down from that tree. "Always landing on their feet and conspiring in corners!"

That was weird. How did a kid jump down like that from that height? Obviously, that was a fundamental violation of some law of nature. Kiba was sure of it.

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru barks in agreement.

Zetsu shakes his head. "We need a plan of attack for when we actually find him." It seemed the most logical thing to do!

They couldn't just charge in without a plan. That would be suicidal. Someone like this was bound to have lots of guards protecting them.

"FlowerBoy is right!" Deidara grins. "Yeah?"!

His glee didn't last long though. Suddenly, the blonde felt someone glaring at him with rather murderous intent. To his shock, it was FlowerBoy.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" He lunges at the Akatsuki Member.

That's when all the respective animals and sand came back. They had done it! They must have found Danzo!

"Guys, stop fighting!" Sakura screams and everyone winces.

She knew she was being loud, but Sakura had a point to prove. They shouldn't be bickering with each other. They should be focusing on planning!

"She's right." Obito sighs as he rubs his ears. "I think that I've got a pretty good idea where he is now. Now, we just need a plan."

Itachi nods in agreement. A ninja must know the time to strike. And that time was now!

"I recommend we use the Divisions again." They had worked beautifully last time. "Danzo is unlikely to suspect children are about to attack him."

Sasuke glances at his brother as he considers that. That was true. They still did have the element of surprise on their side.

Though he really should wake up Naruto. "Loser, wake up." The middle Uchiha pokes the unconscious blonde with a stick.

"OWE!" The other boy grumbles as he wakes up. "What'd you do that for, you Jerk?!"

This promptly causes to roll his eyes. The idiot needed to be woken up for the fight. That should have been obvious. Oh well. Naruto had two intelligent thoughts recently, Sasuke supposed that he really shouldn't expect anymore miracles to happen for awhile.

"We're going to war, Idiot." Sasuke glares at him. "That means we need you to wake up!"

Pain shakes his head. "So we'll revive the divisions." He pauses before continuing. "We can't have the Explosive Division go first at this time, unless we're prepared to take the guards head on."

Jugo nods at that. "Our best bet would be to send one of our girls in." He smiles at everyone. "Have her pretend to be lost and while the guards are distracted with helping her, we attack!"

"Damn!" Suigetsu blinks at that. "I didn't know you had it in you to be that sneaky, Jugo!" He was kinda impressed.

Karin bites her lower lip as she considers the situation. Whoever went first would be in the most danger, but Jugo's idea was a sound one. They just had to figure out who would be their decoy.

"I can't do it." Temari sighs. "I'm the Kazekage's daughter. They might recognize me on sight."

Right. That was a good point, Karin concedes. Maybe, she should volunteer?

"I could do it?" She looks around cautiously.

Sasuke shakes his head. "No. I heard some of the adults talking about us. Apparently, you were a Sound Ninja and a Member of Taka." Both of which meant Karin might be recognizable. "Long story short, they might recognize you."

Konan sighs and shakes her head as well. "I can't go either. I heard the adults whispering about the Akatsuki. I was a member. Apparently, we were the bad guys?"

The adults weren't nearly as clever as they thought, Itachi muses to himself. It seemed almost everyone had heard something whispered at some point. It was merely a matter of putting the pieces together.

"Alright. So that means Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, or Ino." Kakuzu glances around as if trying to choose. "So who is it gonna be?"

Hinata bites her lower lip as she steps forward. "Me. I'm a Hyuga. He'd recognize me, but in a good way." It was a sad fact of life, but she knew some children would likely be considered more valuable than others in the eyes of someone like Danzo. "I'm important enough to get his attention, but not someone he'd view as a threat even as an adult."

She didn't know the last part for sure, but Hinata sensed it was true. She instinctively knew that she was a very shy person now and that wasn't likely to change when she got bigger.

Gaara blinks. No. "You're not doing it." He wasn't going to allow his princess to put herself in danger like that!

Hinata smiles at him. "Don't worry, I have Mr. Squishy and I have you." She kisses his cheek. "I'll be perfectly safe."

Gaara wanted to protest that. He really did, but the red head was suddenly helpless against the power of the Knockout Kiss Jutsu. Which was just a Kiss Jutsu at the moment, but its power was still very great!

"Alright." He shakes his head. "I'll just squish them, if they go near you." He sighs.

Kankuro shakes his head in amusement. Well it was good to see Gaara forging bonds, even if it was in a slightly psychotic fashion. Still, this was progress.

"Alright. So Hinata gets their attention and then what?" He looks around.

Sasuke smirks as he looks at his brother and cousin. "We can throw fireballs at their pants." He knew that would definitely distract them and leave them vulnerable to attack.

The bad guys would roll around and put the fire out. So it wouldn't spread. That or at least not much and that would give them the openings they need.

"Sasuke, I'm going to start calling you my sadistic little brother, if you keep this up." Itachi chuckles.

Sai watches and tries to think of a way to help them maximize their chance of success. "The Explosive Division should be spread out across the village." He decides to elaborate. "That will keep everyone's attention scattered while the rest of us attack."

"That's a great idea!" Deidara grins. "Yeah and then all the other Divisions can attack at once from different angles. Just like last time. Remember Stabbing Division, we need you to stab a lot!" He grins more at the thought of all that blood.

Hidan watches the entire scene in amusement. Well they were all freaking crazy, but they were his kind of crazy. And it looked like they had a plan.

"Alright, let's go!" He smirks at Itachi. "And Pretty Boy will have to point out which one is Danzo. He's the only one who seems to know what that man looks like!"

Itachi twitches and was tempted to slug Hidan. "I will point him out to everyone and after we've ripped out his treacherous heart, I may or may not have my crows castrate you, Hidan." He smiles sweetly.

Hidan looks at Itachi in confusion. "What's castrate mean?" He didn't get it.

That's when Kisame laughs and pats Itachi on the back. "Trust me, Hidan, you don't wanna know." He winks at the other man. "So you probably shouldn't call Itachi that again unless you want to be wielding a broken kunai for the rest of your life!"


	16. The Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children face off against Danzo in an epic, though somewhat silly battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. For your convenience, I've listed the Divisions below. Happy reading!
> 
> Explosive Division: Suigetsu, Deidara, Kiba, and Kankuro.
> 
> Stabbing Division: Kisame, Jugo, Obito, Kakuzu, and Lee.
> 
> Sneaky Division: Itachi, Zetsu, Temari, and Shino.
> 
> Kamikaze Division: Sasuke, Naruto, Konan, Pain, and Tenten.
> 
> Defensive Division: Gaara, Sai, Shikamaru, and Choji.
> 
> Support Division: Hidan, Sakura, Karin, Ino, Hinata and Neji.
> 
> Chapter Notation: I decided to keep this battle somewhat canon, but everyone will get their cameo. While this fic has taken a more serious turn than expected, this is still designed to be a very silly story. I think we all know that it would be almost impossible for Danzo to lose to a bunch of kids, but it's all in good fun. Anyway, happy reading!

An hour later, Hinata's heart was pounding. The young girl was now outside Danzo's Office and everyone had gotten into position. This was especially important when it came to the Explosive Division.

BOOM! _BOOM!_ _ **BOOM**_! "It's begun." The Hyuga Heiress whispers to herself as the sounds of the cannons go off.

"You can do this." She hears Gaara's voice reassure her.

The bluenette only nods in agreement as the sounds of those cannons continue to boom. Jugo and Gaara had constructed cannons. Their cannons were now filled with explosive tags. Those cannons were now being manned by the Explosive Division and being fired all across the Leaf Village!

It was now or never, she supposed. "AHHH!" She pretends to fall the ground, screaming.

Apparently, acting like a damsel in distress worked every time. The guards came a running and so did Danzo. Hinata was rather shocked at how easy that was.

"Are you alright, little girl?" One of them looks at her with concern as they try to help her up.

Hinata fakes a sniffle. "It hurts so much! I think something is broken!" Wow. This was actually working!

Danzo's eyes widen in recognition. "That's not just any little girl. That's Hiashi's eldest." Hinata nods and sniffles more. "Can you tell us where your friends are?"

"We're right here!" Suddenly a series of fireballs is lodged at Danzo's guards.

Itachi, Sasuke, and Obito were all firing in unison from their hiding locations. The eldest Uchiha watches the guards carefully as the fire hits its mark. Instinctively, they stopped, dropped, and rolled.

"GET HIM!" Obito cries out.

Danzo's looks around on high alert. "You fools! It was a trap!" He swiftly takes out his kunais and was about to aim them when he was tackled.

"We'll get them, Lord Danzo!" One of his ROOT Members promises as he rolls around the ground. "Don't worry!" Trying to put the fire out.

"Gotcha!" Naruto beams as Sasuke rushes over to him and Flickers them to the Forest of Death.

Sasuke was really happy that Itachi had taught him that technique. It was so useful. Now, they'd be able to fight Danzo somewhere that the Leaf wouldn't find them as quickly and the others would be following them soon. (After all, Sasuke wasn't the only person who could Flicker in that group)!

* * *

Meanwhile Suigetsu was having the time of his life. He was gleefully firing off the cannon into the straight when he smelled smoke. That was the signal. The Uchiha Brothers had done their thing.

If that didn't do it, the crows flying in the sky would have. "It looks like Itachi wants to hurry." He decides as he does exactly that.

Those crows belonged to the Middle Uchiha. As soon as he saw them flying, it meant the Explosive needed to get their butts to the Forest of Death! So that's exactly what they did.

"Awe! I was just having fun!" Deidara was soon at his side, running with the former Taka Member. "Yeah?!"

Suigetsu nods in understanding. So was he, but rules were rules. Besides, it was time to ice this creep!

* * *

"Where the Hell am I?" Danzo demands as he looks around in confusion.

Sasuke glares at the elderly man. "You're in the Forest of Death." He was seeing red, quite literally.

"Which is rather appropriate since you will be dying today." Itachi Flickers into view with Obito at his side as more and more of their friends did the same. "You're going to pay for your crimes against our family."

So it had come to this, Danzo muses to himself. The Uchihas knew the truth and must have told their little friends. Well no matter. He'd just finish them off quickly.

"Kotoamatsukami!" This should deal with them easily enough.

Shisui's Ultimate Jutsu. It allowed him to enter their minds and manipulate what they would see as long as they were within his field of vision.

Which made it dreadfully useful as he makes the children think they were attacking him and not each other. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" Jugo was the first child he had seen and now he was wielding an axe made of chakra against Sai.

"Attack!" Itachi commands his ravens to attack Danzo.

He knew that Jutsu. Shisui had told him about it and he wasn't going to allow his friends to fall victim to it. Danzo needed someone to be in his field of vision for it to work. Which meant as long as he wasn't looking at them, they were safe.

So the birds swarm over to Danzo and begin pecking at his eyes. "AHHH!" The elderly man was trying to defend himself, but it had worked. The Jutsu had been released.

"Everyone be careful. That Jutsu allows him to control your minds." He had to warn his friends! "If he can see you, it's possible for him to trap you in it!"

"You always were a clever boy." Danzo smirks through the pain as he slams his fists into the birds, clearly the way. "That won't save you though. Why have you chosen to rush to your death in such a fashion?!"

Hidan twitches. This guy really gave him the creeps. "Why won't you shut up?!" He looks at the Support Division. "CHARGE!" And races towards the man while wielding a scythe made out of sand.

_Slash!_ **Slash!** _ **Slash!**_ He was moving his scythe fast and furious as the girls and Neji joined him.

"GENTLE FIST!" Hinata and Neji scream simultaneously as they slam their fists into Danzo.

Danzo couldn't believe what was going on. One child was attacking him with a scythe and it was all he could do to avoid having his chakra points locked up. And to make matters worse, now he was being pelted with rocks.

It seemed that a girl with glasses, a pink haired girl, and a blonde girl had all made sling shots and were flying rocks at him. Normally, that wouldn't have mattered much in the grand scheme of things. While painful, such attacks weren't anywhere near fatal, but they were distracting.

"AHHH!" He was going to have to kill these brats. "DIE!" He snarls as he forms some blades made out of wind chakra.

Danzo never got a chance to use them though as the white haired boy slashed his throat. Well so he thought, Danzo thinks to himself with a smirk as his body fades away.

"I GOT HIM!" Hidan smirks. "HELL YEAH! VICTORY IS OURS!"

There were cheers all around the battlefield until Danzo reappeared behind Hidan and knocked him out. "One shouldn't count their chickens before they hatch!" The elderly man smirks.

Kiba blinks. He couldn't believe it! That creep had just vanished into thin air after having his throat slashed. Well whatever he'd done, he didn't think the fancy trick would work twice.

"GET HIM AKAMARU!" Kiba orders his canine pal to attack as he charges alongside the puppy!

Danzo looks at the child like he was insane. "Well, if you're so eager to die, allow me to assist you." The boy was actually trying to harm him by punching him and the dog was biting him.

Well no matter. He would end this soon enough. "Time to declaw both of you mutts!" He slams his fist into Kiba's chest and sends the boy flying back with his dog.

"Not cool!" Deidara hurls an explosive tag at him! "Yeah! This is the Explosive Division, Mr. Ugly Butt Face!"

Suigetsu nods at that. "Damn straight!" And the Explosive Division looked after their own. "WATER BULLETS!" So he hurls his water bullets at the old and wrinkly ninja!

It shouldn't be hard to kill him, Suigetsu muses to himself. The man was so ancient, that he probably had one foot in the grave. He must have gotten lucky last time! That was all!

"Ugly Butt Face?!" Danzo snarls incredulously. "Such rude children should be taught manners!" Though that was proving difficult to do with all these bullets flying and it didn't help that Kankuro had just released sent a puppet at him.

He kicks the puppet, but it goes off. Blowing his leg off. Well or so they thought as a bullet "pierces" his heart and he disappears again.

That's when he reappears behind a tree and Kakuzu lost it. "YOU HURT HIDAN!" How dare this prick go after his best friend?!

It was time to make him pay! "So now, you're going to find out why we're called the stabbing division!" He charges at him with a giant whip, cracking it at him furiously!

"That's right!" Jugo agrees as he soon joins his friend.

They were both wielding weapons made out of chakra. Kakuzu a whip and Jugo an ax. The two of them were slashing at Danzo fast and furious!

"FIREBALL JUTSU!" Though they weren't the only members of the stabbing division that were joining the fun.

There was something rather satisfying about the smell of charred flesh, Obito observes as he realizes his fireball had made contact with the side of Danzo's face. The bastard, deserved it!

"The Power of Youth will never be defeated!" Lee cries out as he rushes towards Danzo.

Stab! _Stab!_ _ **Stab!**_ His friend was right. If you were going to be a ninja, the fact of the matter was you were going to have to stab some people!

"Don't worry kid, I've got your back!" Kisame promises Lee as he too starts stabbing at Danzo!

One of his kunais made out of sand stabs Danzo in the heart and the man clutches his heart before disappearing and reforming behind Lee. Swiftly knocking him out.

Shikamaru frowns as he notices something. This guy just kept coming back. What gives? Those were all lethal attacks or should have at least slowed him down, but the man kept reforming as if nothing had happened!

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" He needed to figure out what his secret was. "GAARA! Hit him with everything you've got!"

Gaara nods as he summons a tidal wave of sand. Causing it to come crashing down on him. "The Defense Division is now chipping in." And that was the truth.

Danzo's eyes widen as he jumps into the air and tries to avoid the sand. That didn't entirely avoid it though. The was now chasing him and so were dozens of birds that Sai had just drawn.

He was forced to land, where Chjoi expanded and bowled him over. Literally and while Choji wasn't a member of the Stabbing Division, he was apparently more than happy to give it a go. He pierces Danzo's heart with a dagger.

"Careful!" Itachi tries to warn them. "He's probably going to reform!"

Itachi was right to worry. Danzo reformed behind the middle Uchiha and swiftly knocks him out. "Had you been a few years older, you might have been a threat." He smirks. "Shame you warned them about Shisui's technique though."

"Shame you're such a jerk!" Shino seethes.

He might not trust the Uchihas, but they were on the same team. So he for damn sure wasn't going to let Danzo push them around. And neither were his bees.

"ATTACK!" A swarm of Killer Bees, wasps, hornets, and locusts fly swiftly towards Danzo. "KILL HIM!

While Danzo was busy trying to protect himself, Zetsu hurls some vines at the man. Tying him up as best he could.

"NOW, TEMARI!" Trying to create an opening for his female teammate. "NOW!" Itachi might be down, but the Sneaky Division wouldn't be defeated that easily!

"Got it!" She swings her fan around and sends him flying back directly into the deadly swarm of insects.

Since he was helpless, he couldn't avoid them. It was a brutal "death" to witness, but she knew he'd reform.

"WATCH OUT!" He always did.

She was right to warn them because Danzo had seen the recognition in hear eyes. The blonde was close to figuring something out. So with one blow to the back of her head, he prevented that with ease.

"Temari!" Shikamaru's eyes widen in horror.

Tenten's eyes narrow. "Don't worry! We'll make him pay for that!" It was time for the Kamikaze Division to play now!

The brunette charges at Danzo, hurling as many kunais as she could at him. That's when she noticed something utterly disgusting. His arm.

"TAKE THIS!" Her kuanis go flying in a dozen different directions. "You, eye wearing freak!"

Naruto blinks as he sees that. "That's so gross! Um bastard, why do those eyes look like yours?" He looks at Sasuke.

Sasuke and Obito both looked like they were going to be sick at that moment. They might have been young, but each of them knew what having that many Sharingans meant. Danzo hadn't just ordered a Massacre. He had robbed the graves of his victims.

"That's the Sharingan, Loser." Sasuke glances at Obito and notices that his eyes had also changed color. "Obito, we can predict his moves together and direct the others." Then he turns his attention back to Naruto. "Hit him with everything you've got, Naruto!"

The blonde nods as he goes charging at Danzo. He had a sword which he stabs the other man through the chest with.

Even a highly skilled ninja like Danzo had trouble keeping up with this many attacks at once. Thank goodness for his improvised Izanagi! Otherwise he would have already been dead!

"Take this!" Konan joins the blonde in the fray, dropping an explosive tag from above him. "I'll be your Angel of Death today!"

Pain could only smile at that. She looked beautiful whenever she made herself wings like that and damn it, that was a good line! He was going to marry that girl one day!

He joins the fray by stabbing Danzo in the lungs with a dagger made out of sand. This bastard had to go and the sooner, the better!

"You will know Pain!" He laughs before the man vanished again.

Danzo smirks as he gets behind Pain and knocks him out. He would have loved to get those eyes of his, but he could hardly conduct a transplant in the middle of a battle.

That's when Shikamaru's eyes widen. "SASUKE! OBITO! HIS EYES!" Upon hearing that, Danzo snarls at the lazy genius and summons Baku!

"ATTACK, BAKU!" He needed to end this quickly.

He had already knocked out several of the kids, but it wasn't enough. Danzo had thought they would be easier to deal with than this, but he should have known that wouldn't have been the case. These children would forever be a burden to him, no matter what their ages were!

The giant tapir like creature was now charging at Shikamaru. His eyes widened. There was nothing he could do, except try to dodge. Which he did., but only semi successfully.

Baku slams into Shikamaru, knocking him to the ground. The genius was now fully unconscious. "Get all of them, Bakau!" The creature appears to nod as it opens its mouth and giant gust of wind begins to suck everyone in.

"FIREBALL JUTSU!" Obito growls in fury.

A Summon that relied on attacks like that was going to eat whoever it sucked in. That made it vulnerable to fire! At least, that's what he hoped.

Luckily it seemed to work because the beast howls in pain. "Damn it!" And Danzo disperses it.

Sasuke frowns though. His eyes. They were disgusting. Proof that his Clan hadn't even been allowed to rest in peace after their death, but what about them?

There were ten, but six were now closed. Danzo had died six times. Sasuke blinks.

That was it. "ALL DIVISIONS ATTACK AT ONCE!" Maybe, once he had no Sharingans, he'd die for real!

Danzo rushes over to him and slams a seal onto him. "SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" A binding seal.

Sasuke could feel his body going numb. He'd never really been good at Genjutsu, but maybe. This was his best chance. He casts it.

"WATER BULLETS!" Suigetsu apparently had heard him though and those bullets were now flying.

Straight into Danzo's heart. That was seven Sasuke thinks to himself as the elderly man disappears again and reforms behind Suigetsu. "Scum!" And knocks him out.

"Art is an explosion!" Deidara joins the fray launching birds of clay with explosives at Danzo. "Yeah?!" Danzo wasn't able to dodge them all though.

His head was blown off, but it wasn't enough. This time he reformed behind Jugo and knocked him out.

Ino, Karin, and Sakura all launch their sling shots. Some of the rocks struck true. Blinding him and a few fall into his mouth. Danzo chokes on them, only to reappear again and disable Shino.

Gaara's sand goes flying at Danzo. "Sand Coffin!" And well, his attack lived up to its name.

That was ten. Sasuke thinks to himself. That meant all Danzo's Sharingans were closed. If his theory was right, one more and Danzo would be gone.

"HEY! Nobody gets to beat up Sasuke besides me!" Naruto launches himself at Danzo in a frenzy.

Not to be outdone, Kisame joins in. "The same goes for Itachi!" He pauses and adds. "Only I don't beat him up, but I am part of the stabbing Division."

Both boys seemed bound and determined to prove their point. They were forces of nature. That's when Sasuke notices something though. Speaking of nature, it looked like his brother had turned back to his most natural form.

The unconscious boy laying on the ground was no longer a young child on the verge of adolescence, but a grown man.

Wait. If Itachi had turned back, that could only mean one thing. They were all close to turning back.

"That's really touching Kisame, truly." The boy rises to his feet. "But I can handle this one! AMATERASU!" Blood drips from underneath his eye as black flames are hurled at Danzo.

"STOP!" Danzo calls out as he Flickers behind Sasuke. "If you do this, I'll cut his throat. He's paralyzed now. He can't move."

He looked down at his arm to discover he only had one Sharingan left. That meant he could take one more hit and that would be the end of him and unfortunately, there were too many children on the battlefield now.

He would have to retreat. There was no other option. That meant taking a hostage.

"No, he's not." Itachi smirks. "Well at least not anymore."

Itachi was right. Sasuke suddenly got a lot bigger and the seal burned off him. Somehow leaving his skin untouched. More important than that though, Sasuke quickly jumps back and jumps into to sky, Summoning Garuda.

"DAMN IT!" Danzo seethes. "I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU ALL WHEN I GOT THE CHANCE!"

That didn't sit right with Kisame and Naruto. They lunged at Danzo once again in a blind fury. That was all the opening Sasuke needed.

"Down." He whispers to Garuda "Chidori Sharp Spear!"

He summons his Chidori and molds it into a spear that extended for about five meters. That was all that was necessary to slam it into the old man's chest.

"AHHH!" Danzo's eyes widen in horror as he sees the ground underneath him turn red with blood. "But how?! I still have another Sharingan!" _**His**_ blood!

Danzo slumps over, clutching his chest as Itachi smirks. "It seems my foolish little brother finally mastered a basic Genjutsu." He smiles at Sasuke and pokes his forehead. "You thought another eye was open, when it was really closed. The Genjutsu just made you think it was open."

Obito walks over to him and kicks the dying man. "That's for our family!" Repeatedly. "YOU, YOU JERK!" And he spits on him for good measure as the man struggles not to choke on his own blood.

It was too late though. Sasuke alters the Chidori to form more blades, which add to Danzo's already lethal wounds.

"You got him!" Naruto grins as he rushes over to Sasuke.

Sasuke nods. They had definitely got him. Though Gaara apparently wanted more proof. "SAND COFFIN!" It didn't work though.

"Everyone get back! Something really freaky is going on!" Sakura warns them as she feels a strange shift in the air. "Get away from Danzo's body!"

Everyone quickly moves back as four seals on Danzo's body activate. They left his body and were forming a sphere around him. A sphere that was sucking everything inside it.

"It's the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing." Itachi whispers. "So no one can take his body and discover his secrets." Not even in death.

"That's pretty creepy." Kisame blinks. "Talk about paranoid, eh Itachi?"

Itachi blinks when he hears Kisame's voice had gotten a lot deeper and he looks around. "Kisame! You're an adult again!" Oh thank goodness.

He wasn't the only one though. One by one, the Jutsu was being reversed. First, it had been either him or Sasuke and then Kisame. Now, everyone was turning back!

"We w-won!" Hinata smiles happily as Gaara grabs her and spins her around happily.

"Red is a lot stronger than I thought he was. " Deidara blinks. "Yeah?" He was shocked that Gaara could swing the Hyuga girl around like that.

Kankuro twitches and glares at Deidara. What was he trying to say?! His brother was Kazekage!

"Gaara is the Kazekage!" He glares more. "Of course, he's strong!"

Zetsu looks around in awe at the carnage. "Um guys? Shouldn't be getting them medical attention?" He was still a kid at the start of that question, but by the end of it he was an adult again.

"I'm a medic." Sakura reminds them. "I'll check them out while Sai sends a message to Lady Tsuande. If we all went back like this, we'd attract too much attention." It was better for the Hokage to come here than the other way around.

Sai smiles pleasantly and proceeds to do exactly that. "Take this to Lady Tsunade." He pets the bird. "Hurry!" And with that, the bird swiftly flies off.

"Right well…this is kinda awkward." Kakuzu muses. "Seeing as half of us were enemies before we were all turned into kids."

Yeah. Naruto nods dumbly in agreement. The Akatsuki were their enemy, but apparently they weren't anymore? They couldn't be, right? Sasuke had forgiven Itachi for goodness sakes!

"Let's just wait for Granny Tsunade to get here and go from there." The blonde could feel a headache coming on. "Cause I have no idea what we're supposed to do about any of this!" He gestures to everyone around him helplessly.

They had defeated Danzo, but now playtime was over. They were all adults again and half of these people were dangerous criminal ninjas. Would their time as kids mean anything? Did this mean the Akatsuki and Taka were all going to be pardoned and that they were all good guys now?

Naruto didn't know and that was scary. He was used to knowing things like that. Awe man! Suddenly, he wished that he was a little kid again. Things were a lot less complicated that way!


	17. Normal Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is normal again and readjusting to life as adults. That includes Gaara who has a surprise in store for Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: I took some liberties with what Orochimaru kept hidden in his medical labs for plot purposes, but I think most people will enjoy them. Please do try to keep in mind this story is designed to be more of a silly story than a serious and logical one though. Happy reading!

One week later, Sasuke was in _agony_! Danzo had been defeated, but he was now recovering from surgery and so was Itachi. Oh and Obito as well.

"Itachi, do you smell flowers?" He couldn't see them, but he could smell them.

His face was still bandaged after the eye transplant. Itachi and Obito had also gotten one. Obito and Itachi had both been well versed in the cost of using their Mangekyo Sharingans too much, but neither had cared until recently. Mostly because they thought they were either going to die or another world would be crated before it would matter.

Sasuke was a different story. He most definitely didn't want to go blind, if he didn't have to. That and now that everything was slowly settling down, neither did his kin. Thus Sasuke the brothers had traded eyes and Obito had been given two new eyes.

Apparently, Orochimaru was just as much a grave robber as Danzo! "Yes, I smell them." The freak had stashed away some eyes for medical research.

He didn't want to risk transplanting them on himself though. So fortunately, the eyes were still available and had been transplanted into Obito. Which meant even though they were in pain now, none of them would be going blind later!

"Yup!" Itachi blinks as he hears a familiar voice. "The brat and me got you both some flowers." It couldn't be though. "Oh and Kakashi got some for Obito as well."

He was very happy to hear Kisame's voice, but what was he doing walking around the hospital? Maybe, Itachi was still asleep. That or the drugs were causing him to hallucinate. That had to be it.

"Kakashi got me flowers?" Obito blinks in confusion. "Why? Wait. Nevermind." He was a grown man again. Obito needed to start acting like it! "What are you doing walking around the hospital? Didn't they lock you up?"

It honestly confused him. Kisame was a member of the Akatsuki and unlike himself and Itachi, he wasn't bedridden. It would have made more sense for Tsunade to lock him up or even to have him executed.

"Nah!" Naruto laughs as he watches Sasuke. "Granny Tsunade just put trackers on them. Trackers that won't allow them to use their chakra unless it's self-defense." Oh. Well that sorta made sense.

The Akatsuki could still prove to be a handful and so could Taka, even without their chakra. It wasn't the same though. It was unlikely they could pose a significant threat when they were being tracked and didn't have access to their chakra.

"The brat is right." Kisame grins in triumph.

Obito shakes his head. "Well what happened to everyone else then? Where are they?" He and the other Uchihas had been drifting in and out of consciousness for several days now and he was eager to find out what had happened to the other "children."

"Well right now, it varies." Naruto sighs and shakes his head. "Ibiki has been putting the Akatsuki and Taka Members through the hoops to see, if they've really changed."

Not that Naruto could really blame her. They had been the bad guys until very recently. Still, he was just really happy that Sasuke was finally back!

"Right. What have been the results so far?" Sasuke turns his bandaged head towards the sound of Naruto's voice.

Naruto grins. Sasuke couldn't see it, but he could hear it somehow. "So far everything is checking out and I think they're just finishing with poor Zetsu now. He's mostly angry that everyone still calls him FlowerBoy, I think."

Kisame snickers at that. Yeah. He'd be pretty miffed about that too!

"You can't see them at the moment cause you're bandages have to stay on awhile longer, but I got you some red roses Itachi." He smiles smugly. "They match those freaky eyes of yours."

Itachi would have rolled his eyes, if the action wouldn't have caused him enormous pain. It seemed that whatever feelings might have been developing between them as children, hadn't gone away when they were adults.

"How romantic ." Only Kisame could give someone roses and still manage to insult them. "I'm sure they're beautiful."

"Oi!" Obito tries to get the blonde's attention. "What kind of flowers did Kakashi get me?"

"Oh. Sorry, Obito." Naruto smiles at him apologetically. "Sunflowers. Oh and I got orange and yellow roses for the Bastard!" He chimes merrily.

Sasuke felt a strong urge to roll his eyes at that. "Thanks, Loser." Orange and yellow? Seriously? Well he supposed that it was the thought that counted.

* * *

Meanwhile Zetsu stumbles his way out of the Interrogation Unit. To say the least, he was not in a particularly good mood. Then again, who was after having their mind probed? Yeah. That's what he thought.

"Did you pass your evaluation?" Pain looks at the other Akatsuki Member as he holds Konan's hand.

Slowly, but surely everyone that wasn't in the hospital had been evaluated. Zetsu was the last one. If he had passed, they were likely in the clear.

Zetsu nods at Pain. "Yes, I believe so." He was still shaky on his feet and feeling rather indignant, but he knew better than to incur the wrath of someone with the Rinnegan! "What's that on your hand, Konan?"

"Oh this?" She smiles at him. "This is my engagement ring." She promptly shows her hand to Zetsu. "Pain proposed to me, once it became apparent there was a chance we might all get pardoned.

Zetsu blinks as he looks down at the beautiful silver band with a large, round amethyst stone in its center. The stone was surrounded by several smaller, matching ones. To say the least, it was gorgeous.

"Oh." He blinks again in surprise. "Well congratulations. Where are the others?" He looks around as if expecting them to pop up out of nowhere.

Upon hearing that, Kakuzu smiles as he manages to break his kiss with Hidan. "It looks like Zetsu is done. We should go and greet him." Hidan rolls his eyes at that.

"We can always greet him later." He was far more interested in having some more personal _team building exercises_ with his partner than talking to the FlowerBoy! "Now, where were we?" He smirks.

Kakuzu shakes his head as he drags Hidan behind him. To say the least, his new lover could be quite creative when it came to his cursing. Oh well. Kakuzu didn't mind that.

"We're here." He nods at Zetsu. "Both of us passed our tests."

Hidan grumbles and sulks. "Fishface is probably visiting the PrettyBoy in the hospital." He shrugs, figuring that Zetsu might want to know.

Zetsu nods in understanding. "Alright. That answers that, but has anyone seen Deidara?" If anyone was going to ruin their chances of getting a pardon, it was going to be him!

Kakuzu sighs and shakes his head. "No. I haven't seen him all day." Wonderful. Just wonderful!

* * *

Elsewhere Sai was with Deidara in his apartment and the two of them were hurriedly trying to finish off their painting before Ino arrived. Sai had befriended Deidara. Sorta.

"You're gonna need some blue for her eyes!" Deidara nods knowledgeably. "Yeah?!"

The two of them shared a love for art and Sai supposed that was a good start. If only they could get Deidara beyond his love of causing explosions everywhere, then that would improve things drastically.

"You're right." He smiles as he quickly paints the eyes in the portrait blue.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Deidara hurriedly scurries over to answer it. Well that was nice, Sai muses to himself. It was nice that his blonde friend was so fast.

"Deidara?" Ino blinks when he opens the door. "What are you doing in Sai's apartment?"

Deidara grins at her. Yeah. She was pretty. He could see why the shyer artist liked her so much.

Oh right. She had asked him a question. "Oh I was just helping Sai put the finishing touches on one of his paintings." He beams at her. "Yeah?"

Ino nods her head slowly as she makes her way over to Sai. She was almost afraid to ask, but she would anyway. What could Deidara have possibly been helping Sai to paint?

"Ino!" Sai smiles at her cheerfully. "I made this for you and Deidara was kind enough to lend me a hand as well."

Now, she was a bit terrified. That was until she saw the painting and she blushed. It was a painting of her and Sai and kissing. Kissing and doing other stuff.

"It's very…realistic." She blushes more as she covers Sai. "I love it, but from now on when you paint us maybe it would be best to do it on your own."

Sai smiles at the praise and nods. "Alright. Deidara was just helping me because he's my friend and I was a bit short on time." Oh boy.

Her boyfriend was friends with an Akatsuki Member. This was going to take some getting used to say the least!

* * *

"So I was thinking, what are we going to do now?" Karin looks around on one of the Leaf's Training Grounds.

The red head felt a bit at a loss for what to do. It looked like everyone was going to get a pardon. Somehow, the three of them had passed their evaluations, but Sasuke was still recovering from his surgery. And without him around, Taka was pretty aimless.

Suigetsu shrugs as though the answer was obvious. "I think I'll just stay here. I've been talking with Kisame and he's interested in opening up a Weapons Shop with me." He pauses an adds as an afterthought. "And Tenten might join us."

It seemed like a good idea. He could run around with his head cut off for those swords or he could just be happy with sharing the Samehada and the other cool swords that they found or brought into the Leaf.

If he ran off, Sugietsu knew that he'd be wasting his pardon. The chances that he would ever get another one were pretty slim to say the least. So he had decided not to waste it.

"Well that makes sense." She sighs and shakes her head. "Glad you finally decided not to be an idiot!" Karin smiles happily. "It's a miracle."

Immediately, Jugo steps between the two of them. He knew exactly what was going to happen and he wasn't going to allow it. Sasuke was recovering from a serious operation. That meant that it was up to him to keep everyone together!

"There's no need to fight." He smiles at them. "We'll all just stay here." Besides, the sword lover wasn't the only one with plans. "Kiba has offered a me a position at his family's home. I'll be helping to train ninja dogs like Akamaru."

Karin blinks at that. Well she hadn't seen that coming. Good for Jugo though. He deserved to be happy after all.

"Ah well that's cool." She nods. "I'm gonna look into joining the medical program then." The Uzumaki girl sighs and shakes her head. "It'll be nice to heal people without being used as a human chew toy."

* * *

_Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!_ Choji smiles as he munches on a bag of chips and listens to his friend talk. Shikamaru was talking about Temari. Again.

"It's a drag." He sighs heavily. "I like her, but she lives in the Sand. So eventually one of us is going to have to move."

The other ninja nods sympathetically. "That makes sense. Well I'm sure you two will work it out eventually." He smiles at his friend. "At least we have our memories back now."

Shikamaru sighs and nods. That was true. Frankly, it was nothing short of a relief to be back in his adult body.

"Yeah." He'd take the victories where they came. "We also dealt with the Sound Village and Danzo."

Now that he was an adult, it finally dawned on the lazy ninja how lucky they were to be alive. Against all odds, they had defeated a criminal village and Danzo while they were _children_! It was absolutely crazy!

Choji nods his head cheerfully. "That's true." He smiles at his friend. "It will be really good to get back to our normal routines!"

That was definitely true. Shikamaru really missed missions with his team and those lazy days where he did little else, but watch clouds. Oh and how could he forget going out for barbeque with Ino and Choji. That was always fun.

* * *

At that same moment, Shino watches Kiba as he rubs Akamaru's belly. The three of them were all enjoying some well deserved R&R after everything that had happened.

"So did you really do that?" Shino raises an eyebrow.

He wanted to believe in second chances as much as the next ninja, but still. Taka was a group of criminal ninjas. Did it really matter, if one was good with animals?

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru barks happily as his tail swishes with pleasure from the attention.

Kiba laughs as he rubs the canine's belly. Akamaru was the easiest person to get along with in the world. All he wanted was love, food, and belly rubs. He really wished that people were as easy to get along with as dogs were.

"Yeah." He nods. "Don't worry about it." The Inuzuka grins at his teammate. "They all passed their evaluations, didn't they? It's safe."

Shino wasn't entirely sure that it was safe. They could have just tricked Ibiki. That didn't seem likely, but that didn't make such a thing impossible either.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." He sighs as he looks around. "Where is Hinata?"

He hadn't seen their female teammate all day? It was rather strange. And Shino would be lying, if he said that he wasn't growing concerned for her well-being.

Kiba laughs at that as though the answer should be obvious. "She's with Gaara." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "I guess his crush didn't disappear when we everyone changed back. It's kinda cute." This time he issued a deep belly laugh. "In a weird way."

Shino just shakes his head in disbelief. "God help that man, when he has to deal with Hiashi Hyuga." The insect lover doubted that even Kages really wanted to deal with the Hyuga Patriarch's ire.

In the end though, Shino realized he had little say in the matter. He would merely have to resign himself to sitting back and watching the fireworks.

* * *

"Well it was fun being little again!" Lee beams at his teammates. "Though I'm really happy to be normal again!" They three of them were currently at the Ramen shop with Guy Sensei!

Guy laughs as he bites into his Ramen. "Indeed. The Power of Youth is strong, but it's best to be one's proper age!" With that being said, the Jonin begins devouring his food happily.

Tenten laughs and shakes her head. That was putting it mildly. Though something was off and that something was Neji.

She turns her focus towards her most somber teammate. "Is something wrong?" He looked even more serious than usual.

Neji sighs and nods. He couldn't lie. There were more than a few things bothering him.

They had all worked together beautifully while they were children, but that was no longer the case. "I'm worried about the Akatsuki and Taka." They were adults again.

That meant that the Akatsuki and Taka were all criminal ninjas. Which was bad news. Would Tsunade have them executed?

She probably wouldn't have the Uchihas executed, he decides. "I know. I am too." The Hokage had gone to far too much trouble to patch them up for that. "It's out of our hands though."

The Hyuga man had heard about their eye surgeries. That could only mean one thing. Tsunade wanted them alive for some reason or another. The same couldn't necessarily be said about the rest of the Akatsuki or Taka though.

"You're right." He sighs heavily as he orders his food. "What is meant to be, will be."

Destiny. One couldn't escape it in most cases. That was unless one's name was Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

Elsewhere Kankuro shakes his head. "Temari, have you seen Gaara?" Not that he really needed to ask where his brother had gone, but he wanted confirmation.

"He's with that Hyuga Girl." The busty blonde sighs.

That's what Kankuro was afraid of. For some reason, Gaara had gotten quite the crush on Hinata while they were kids and now that they were adults, his feelings had only grown stronger.

He honestly didn't know how to feel about that. "He doesn't actually think he can talk Hiashi Hyuga into letting her move to the Sand, does he?" So he was happy and terrified about it in all honesty.

"I'm not sure." Temari shakes her head. "Though I know that he's going to try."

He was thrilled that Gaara wanted an actual relationship with a woman. What Kankuro was less thrilled about was the fact that the red head had fallen for the Heiress to one of the Leaf's most powerful Clans!

Hell, it might not be a stretch to call it THE most powerful. Could the Uchihas even be counted as a Clan when they only had three members? Kankuro supposed they technically were, but the Hyugas had the numbers.

"Oh boy." He whispers.

Temari nods in agreement. She knew exactly what her brother was thinking. Though that didn't make things any easier.

It was all up to Gaara, Hinata, and Hiashi Hyuga now. Though if things went well, she might finally have a sister. (Well technically, a Sister-In-Law, but why quibble)?

* * *

"Lady Tsuande, I know that some of them have questionable pasts at best, but I really do believe that they've changed." Sakura pleads with the Five Hokage in her office.

She couldn't let her friends be executed. Now, that was something that Sakura never thought she'd say. That she'd view the Akatsuki and Taka as her friends, but it was the truth.

Becoming children had a wonderful way of opening your eyes. The world was much simpler for children and none of them had been bogged down by the horrors of their pasts. So in Sakura's mind, they had all been the truest versions of themselves.

Tsunade sighs and nods as she scans over the reports. "You kids nearly gave us all heart attacks!" She pauses and adds. "Several times, but you also did the Leaf a great service by taking out the Sound."

Sakura nods her head anxiously. This was a good sign. Tsunade was at least considering the matter!

"Yes, My Lady?" The pink haired woman gently prods her.

Another sigh escapes her mentor's lips. "In light of that, I'm willing to grant the necessary pardons." And upon hearing that, Sakura squeals in delight as she glomps Tsunade and thanks her profusely.

* * *

Meanwhile Gaara smiles at Hinata as he caresses her cheek. He had most excellent news today. He could only hope that she would accept his proposal.

"Hinata, I've spoken to your father about everything." Gaara smiles at her.

They were in the Hyuga Family's Gardens. To say the least, they were surrounded by beauty everywhere he looked. A lush green beauty.

That Hinata wouldn't be able to find in the desert, unless she stumbled on an oasis. Though she was his oasis. Gaara could only hope that she wouldn't be scared off by the hash desert climate or the thought of moving away from her family.

She blinks at. "Really?" That was strange. "What did he say?" Hinata hadn't heard any yelling.

To her astonishment, Gaara soon drops down on one knee and takes her hand on his own. "He gave his Blessing." He smiles and pulls out a beautiful engagement ring.

The bluenette gasps as she stares in shock. Was Gaara proposing?! Wait! He had to be! He had just dropped done on one knee and had a ring! There was no other logical explanation.

"A-Are we both still talking about Hiashi Hyuga?" She couldn't imagine her father giving Gaara his Blessing! The Kazekage simply lived too far away for such a thing to happen!

Gaara nods as he slides the ring onto her finger. "He'll miss you not being nearby, of course. Your father says that Hanabi can take the Heiress position." The red head smiles at her. "That's assuming you accept my proposal in the first place, of course."

Hinata could swear her heart had stopped beating. She couldn't believe this, but as she looked down…she saw the ring. And she knew this was real.

"Are you s-sure that you want to marry me?" She was stunned. "We haven't known each other t-that long and how would your v-villagers react to your taking a f-foreign wife?!"

Gaara just smiles at her and kisses her hand. "Such things aren't entirely uncommon and it doesn't matter." He sounded so certain. "I love you and I think that you love me too. So it doesn't matter whether we've been in love one day or a thousand, my feelings won't change." He pauses and adds as an afterthought. "Though I would be comfortable with a long engagement, if that pleases you?"

That might be better. Hinata nods slowly as she stares down at the beautiful ring. It was a golden band with lots of tiny diamonds dotting along the horizontal piece of jewelry. The center piece though was a large rectangled shaped emerald. It was magnicient.

"A l-long engagement sounds good and I love you too." She smiles at him and overcome with emotion, Hinata glomps her favorite red head.

"Good!" Gaara smiles as he holds her closely, not even minding that he was now laying on his back on top of some wet grass. "I was hoping that you would say that."


	18. The Next Generation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the next generation of Ninja Day Care students!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope everyone enjoys the grand finale of Ninja Day Care and feel to check out my other stories, if you're interested.
> 
> Team Awesome: Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Kisame, Itachi, Suigetsu, and Hidan.
> 
> Team Best: Deidara, Jugo, Konan, Pain, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Sai
> 
> Cool Team: Obito, Sakura, Kiba, Karin, Temari, Shikamaru, Ino, and Mirai.
> 
> Dream Team: Hinata, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Kankuro.
> 
> Chapter Notation: This is set 10 years in the future where most of our "Ninja Kids" have managed to have children of there own. Unless otherwise specified assume that everyone has the same job in the series or became/continued to be a combat ninja. Oh and in case anyone was wondering, surrogacy and some Medical Jutsu experimentation is how some of our male couples were able to have children. Happy reading!

Ten years had passed since _Day Care Army_ was created. A decade after being turned into a child, most members of the original Army had children of their own and in that regard, Sasuke and Naruto were no exceptional.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Kushina giggles on Naruto's back.

Mikoto smiles and nods in agreement. "I can't wait to practice Genjutsu!" Mikoto and Kushina were their daughters.

Both girls were four years old and they were identical twins. That meant they both possessed long raven black hair and sapphire blue eyes. They had even inherited Naruto's whisker markings on their face and their blonde father's tan. Though their facial features were distinctively that of the Uchiha Clan, particularly Sasuke's.

While the sisters looked alike, they couldn't possibly be anymore different. Kushina was loud and boisterous, preferring Taijutsu to anything else. Mikoto was quieter, sneakier, and loved Genjutsu. They were named after their grandmothers.

"That's good." Sasuke nods. "Just don't practice your Genjutsu without a Sensei around, okay?" Sasuke smiles at Mikoto as they swiftly head inside and place them in the playpen with the other children.

"Yes, Father!" Mikoto smiles sweetly as Kushina engages in her favorite hobby, turning Naruto into her own personal jungle gym.

Itachi chuckles as he stands next to Kisame and watches their boys play. He wasn't entirely sure how Naruto and Sasuke had ever stopped dancing around each other and managed to have children, but he was grateful that they did. If they hadn't, all that sexual frustration would have eventually destroyed the Leaf!

"Awe!" Kisame smirks. "Isn't that sweet, Itachi?" He points at little Shisui and Arashi toddling over to their cousins. "They want to play with the girls."

Itachi nods in agreement. Arashi and Shisui were their sons and they were also identical twins. The boys greatly resembled Itachi in everything save for coloration. "It's very sweet." They had each inherited Kisame's dark blue locks and light blue skin. Thankfully, they didn't appear to have gills and their teeth weren't nearly as sharp though.

Neji shakes his head as he watches all the chaos and sets Aimi down. She was his daughter with Tenten. The five year old had inherited her mother's dark chocolate brown eyes and Neji's luxurious mane of hair.

In other words, she was absolutely adorable. A fact that she was all too happy to exploit because she had a knack for trouble. "AIMI, PUT THAT PLASTIC KUNAI DOWN!" Neji warns his daughter.

Like her mother, she was going to be a Weapon's Mistress, it seemed. Unlike her mother though, she wasn't always very good at following orders and it was impossible for Neji to really tell her no.

"BULLSEYE!" Ryo laughs as he watches the plastic kunai pierce the target.

Suigetsu chuckles at that. His son really did take after him. Mostly. He'd inherited Karin's red hair though, but otherwise he looked like a Mini Suigetsu. Thankfully, he also had Karin's healing abilities in addition to his water ones from the Hozuki bloodline.

Karin rolls her eyes at her husband. "You really shouldn't be encouraging him to act out like that!" She swats him upside the head.

Honestly, she didn't know who got into more trouble! Suigetsu or Ryo, but she loved both of her boys!

Deidara beams at everyone while Karin frets. "Welcome everyone!" He beams at them. "We're going to be finger painting today!"

The eccentric blonde now as one of the Senseis at the Day Care. Mostly he was in charge of the Art Program. Everyone was rather wary about this, but Naruto had put his foot down a couple years back. The other blonde needed something to do or else Deidara would likely blow up the village, he had reasoned.

"Really?" Naoki smiles at Deidara.

Oh boy. Ino wasn't sure that she liked where this was going as the blonde artist nods excitedly and starts getting out the paints. Naoki was her son with Sai and he had inherited his father's artistic talents!

"Yeah!" The former Akatsuki Member nods his head energetically. "Have you ever painted before?"

Of course, he had. The may have inherited her blonde hair and blue eyes, but otherwise he was the spitting image of his father in so many ways. Both physical and emotional.

"Yes!" He smiles. "I like the big paintbrushes best!" This of course, prompts Sai to chuckle and Ino to glare at her husband.

"Don't encourage him to say stuff like that!" She grumbles.

Sai tilts his head with feigned innocence. "Why? I thought women _liked_ big paintbrushes too." He smirks. "You _**certainly** _ seem to enjoy mine."

Zetsu shakes his head in disbelief. He now worked at the flower shop with Ino and occasionally taught some botany lessons at the Academy. So he was used to this sort of behavior.

"Perhaps, we'll encourage the children to paint flowers today?" He suggests.

"You're still such a FlowerBoy." Kakuzu smirks as he stands by his husband.

Over the past decade, more and more Ninja Day Care Students had paired off. Kakuzu and Hidan had been one couple to do so and they were now happily married and much to everyone's relief, childfree. Sai really didn't want to imagine what Hidan's and Kakuzu's parenting style would be like!

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Zetsu snarls as of course, chants of "FlowerBoy" begin springing up.

Hidan smirks as he kisses Kakuzu's cheek. "Great job, Baby." He watches Zetsu with amusement. "You've already driven him crazy and it's not even Noon yet!"

"What a drag." Shikamaru sighs as he looks at Temari. "Are you sure that Emi wouldn't be better off in the Sand for her schooling?"

Yes, Shikamaru had ended up marrying Temari. He had always expected that he would live an average life and marry an average woman. That was until the Chunin Exams and later on Ninja Day Care decided to intervene.

His wife was anything, but ordinary. So was their daughter for that matter. Emi was exceptional in every way possible.

"I'm sure." Temari nods. "The Sand doesn't have a Day Care program yet and she's a little young to enter the Academy at five."

He supposed every parent thought that about their child, but it was especially true for Emi. She had his dark hair that was styled like her mother's and Temari's eyes. Like both of her parents, she was a genius. Though she had inherited her father's love of naps and cloud watching, much to Temari's vexation!

Emi smiles at her father and sits on one of the desks. "Papa, can we go home now? I don't think anything is going on, but fingerpainting and that's a drag." Temari just shakes her head at that.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easily." Nope. Not on her watch. "Be a good girl or no ice cream later!" That threat as always, gained immediate compliance from their daughter.

* * *

Meanwhile Konan and Pain were enjoying a nice lazy day by the river. Neither of them had any children. It was just the two of them.

"Do you ever regret it?" Pain looks at his wife. "Not having children."

No. Konan most certainly did not! While having children might have been possible a few years ago, it was too risky at this age.

She shakes her head. "No. We were never cut out for that sort of thing." Both of them had been too damaged by being war orphans and living as Akatsuki Members to be good parents in her mind.

Besides, she didn't need children. All she needed was Pain. He was her everything, Konan thinks to herself as she gazes down at her wedding ring with a smile on her face.

"I suppose you're right." He sighs. "It wouldn't have been very practical." He pours her some wine.

That was true enough. "That and this way we have the house all to ourselves." She kisses him. "And I very much like being able to enjoy _adult playtime_ without worrying about someone getting an eyeful." She laughs.

Pain smirks at that. "That is a very good point, My Love." He smiles at her. "I'm so fortunate to have married such an intelligent ninja."

Konan nods in agreement. She, Pain, Kakuzu, and Kisame were now combat ninjas for the Hidden Leaf and that suited her just fine. That was just another reason why she had declined motherhood. She'd never be able to focus on a mission while she was worried about their child.

* * *

Back at the Academy, Hana winces she notices one of the other kids had a boo boo. They had scraped their knee.

"Ryo!" She flails around desperately. "Quick, the Power of Youth needs your help!"

Sakura chuckles as she watches her daughter flail. Hana's name meant flower and that's what she was. Their precious flower. Sakura and Lee's.

Ryo blinks and rushes over. "Alright! Alright!" He sighs and bends down for the other kid to bite his neck, healing his knee injury instantly.

Hana had inherited Lee's thick black hair and her green eyes. Thankfully, she hadn't received Lee's infamous eyebrows though!

"The Power of Youth is very strong in her!" Lee grins.

Kakashi chuckles as he sees Kyou race off towards the giant sand castle. His son was certainly very fast and much like his other father, Obito…he was always getting into trouble.

"He's just like you at that age." The silver haired man shakes his head.

Obito rubs the back of his head sheepishly as he watches the silver haired boy with dark eyes play in the sand castle. "Yeah. I guess so." He smiles at his husband. "You should know. You knew me twice at that age."

That was most assuredly true. Kakashi still couldn't believe that Obito had survived being half crushed by a boulder and trained under Madara! Though it was true. Even more astonishing was when Obito had those three simple words to him, _"I love you."_

From there, they had had a whirlwind romance after Obito recovered from his surgery. And later on, they had used surrogacy and some rather creative Medical Jutsus to have Kyou.

"Yes, I did." Kakashi laughs softly. "It's a miracle that the Leaf survived you as a child twice!"

They were far from the only male couple to go this route though. Naruto and Sasuke and Kisame and Itachi had all opted for surrogacy. Ironically, thanks to some of Orochimaru's medical experimentation, they were all able to combine their dna with their respective partners before their surrogates lent their assistance to the very important cause of Clan Restoration.

Now, the Uchiha Clan had five members of the next generation. It was a very good start. If they each had two kids in the future, that would mean ten children in the third generation and so on.

"Hey, Kyou!" Miyu smiles at him.

Optimistically, Kakashi figured it would take another twenty years for a full restoration to be achieved. Conservatively, maybe a hundred. It all depended on how many children the second generation had and one's interpretation, he supposed.

Kyou nods at her. "Hey!" He smiles back. "Cool castle!"

Gaara shakes his head in amusement. He and Hinata were visiting the Leaf for today and well his wife had insisted Miyu get to socialize with the other children.

Mostly, he was pretty sure that Miyu just wanted to show off her sand abilities. The girl had his crimson red hair and Hinata's lavender eyes. The Hyuga Bloodline and his sand abilities.

"See, I told you that this was a good idea, My Love." Hinata giggles at him.

Poor Miya didn't get to see her Leaf friends as often as she would like, though she did have friends in the Sand as well. The Kazekage's wife knew how difficult it could be to have one foot in each world and thus wanted to make things as easy on their daughter as possible.

"Thanks." Miyu beams as she shows off Mr. Squishy. "This is Mr. Squishy by the way."

Kyou blinks. "Oh. Um okay." He looks confused. "How can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?"

Miyu blinks as her eyes widen. "Oh my God! What if you're right?!" She flails around dramatically. "What if he's really Mrs. Squishy?!"

Hinata shakes her head. She was probably going to have to prevent a panic attack soon. Miyu was just as protective of Mr. Squishy as her father had been. Speaking of Gaara, she couldn't forget their wedding day.

_They had held it in the Sand Village because Gaara was Kazekage. It had been a triple wedding. Itachi and Kisame and Naruto and Sasuke had all wanted to get married on the same day._

_"I don't believe that I've ever performed a triplet wedding before." Baki chuckled._

_Something about Naruto's love for Sasuke burning hotter than an Amaterasu so the desert was the perfect location to get married. Once that had been decided, Itachi and Kisame hadn't been far behind. Mostly because Kisame didn't want Itachi's kid brother to beat them down the aisle though._

_"You can list us all at once." Hinata smiled as she held Gaara's hands. "It'll be easier."_

_Baki shot her a grateful look as Hinata looked out into the crowd. There had to be thousands, if not tens of thousands of people crammed into the streets. Some were from the Sand, but there were also people from every Great Nation and Island Nation there._

_She understood why though. Gaara was Kazekage and Naruto was rumored to be in line to become Hokage. Not to mention, there was also the natural curiosity about the Uchiha Brothers and of course, her Clan._

_"Thank you." He smiled at her gratefully. "Do you Hinata, Itachi, and Sasuke take these men to be your lawfully wedded husbands?" Baki paused and continued on. "To love, honor, and cherish them for all your days? In sickness and in health? In good times and in bad?" The Sand Ninja smiled. "And do you pledge to forsake all others until death do you part?"_

_"I do." Hinata, Sasuke, and Itachi each vowed with a smile._

_Baki nodded approvingly. "And do you Lord Kazekage, Kisame, and Naruto take this woman and these men to be your lawfully wedded wife or husband?" Yeah that was a mouthful, Hinata giggled to herself. "To love, honor, and cherish them for all your days? In sickness and in health? In good times and in bad?" He paused again. "And do pledge to forsake all others until death do you part?"_

_"I do." Gaara, Naruto, and Kisame all vowed._

_Loud cheers rang up from the crowd, even from her father. Which was surprising, given that he hadn't been too thrilled about her falling in love with a Sand Village. Though the fact that Gaara was Kazekage made it rather difficult for him to object too strongly to the match._

_"Then I pronounce thee man and wife and well man and man and man and man." Baki shook his head in disbelief. "You may all now kiss your respective spouse."_

_Their husbands had proceeded to do exactly that. The rest of the night had passed by in a blur of all kinds of dancing, eating, and laughing. Laughing with their loved ones as they received good-natured ribbings and remembered their times together. By the time the Sun rose, Gaara had carried her off to their Honeymoon._

_It had been a particularly "fruitful" Honeymoon as her father would say. Because not long after it, Hinata had discovered she was pregnant with their daughter. Their little Sand Princess and well, life was never the same after that. (In the best way possible, of course)._

"Trust me, he's a Mr. Squishy." Hinata laughs reassuringly.

* * *

Elsewhere, Choji smiles as he sets down the barbeque on the table. He had decided to retire and opened up a very successful restaurant once it became clear that Shikamaru was going to be an advisor to Naruto and Ino was more interested in being a mother and running her family's flower shop than being a ninja.

"This looks wonderful." Jugo smiles at him.

Suddenly a teenager darts over and sits in Jugo's lap. "Uncle Jugo!" Mirai smiles at him.

Mirai was now a teenager and had grown very close to her fellow Ninja Day Care Alumina, particularly Jugo. "Hey, there Mirai." The gentle giant smiles at her.

He was now helping Kiba and his family run their Ninja Dog Training Program. "Can you tell mother, that I want a Ninja Dog." She whines. "She doesn't think that I'm ready for it!"

Kurenai shakes her head and walks over in amusement. Honestly, teenagers could be so stubborn sometimes. Though she loved her daughter with all her heart.

"Well, I think that's up to Kurenai, but I'm sure you could handle it." Jugo smiles.

Kankuro nods in agreement as he bites into his meal. Life could be strange sometimes. He was currently in the Leaf because he was a Sand Ambassador to it. Just like Temari and Shikamaru.

Shino shakes his head. "Kids." He was relieved he didn't have any.

Well unless you counted his insects. Which he kinda did. They were the closest thing to children he had and he liked it that way. He was nowhere near patient enough to handle small children or even worse, teenagers!

"How are Tsunade, Iruka, and Guy doing?" Choji smiles at her.

Kurenai smiles as she considers the question. "Tsunade is enjoying retirement. Shizune is trying to end her bad gambling habit though." That was never going to work and they all knew it. "Guy is quite happy teaching the Academy Children Taijutsu now and Iruka is still teaching general classes there."

Choji nods. Well that was good. Somehow against all odds, it seemed they had all managed to do the impossible. Survive Ninja Day Care.

* * *

Back at the Day Care, Sasuke blinks as he watches the utter chaos that had now erupted. It was of course, all Deidara's fault. He had shown the children the finger paint.

The paint had gone everywhere, but on canvases they were supposed to paint. It was now all over the rugs, the walls, the floor, and most annoying, the children!

"That's right!" He grins happily. "Art is an explosion!"

Itachi groans as she shakes his head and Sasuke knew exactly what he was thinking. Deidara was off his rocker. Then again, so were most of the Ninja Day Care Graduates. So that was probably to be expected.

Karin sighs and makes her way over to Naruto. "Us Uzumakis have to stick together." Oh boy.

Sasuke knew what was coming now. He was suddenly grateful that Naruto's other distant relative (besides Tsunade) wasn't at the Academy. Otherwise, it was likely the place would have been destroyed.

"Got it!" Naruto grins at her. "You do the shriek and I'll do the capturing."

Karin nods in agreement. "ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY! LISTEN UP! IT'S TIME TO KNOCK IT OFF!" And Naruto forms several Shadow Clones to scoop up the children.

Sasuke had to admit that it was impressive how fast his husband could scoot. Though he knew the truth. The blonde was just very happy to finally have a family. Both an immediate one in the form of them and their daughters and a more distant one. Which was comprised of Tsunade, Karin, and Pain!

Sai blinks as he stands in awe of the Banshee Shriek and Shadow Clone Jutsu Combo. "That was impressive." He blinks again.

Sugietsu smirks and pats his wife on the back. "That's my wife." She might be a Banshee, but she was his Banshee damn it!

Tsunade shakes her head as she walks inside the Day Care. Some things never changed, it seemed. This was especially true when it came Ninja Day Care!

It didn't matter who the children were. One thing was glaringly obvious. No matter where their age, their gender, their abilities, or where they came from…ninja children were absolutely crazy.

"Are you alright, Lady Tsunade?" Hinata looks up at her with concern.

She merely nods. "Yes, I'm fine." Tsunade was just having some rather traumatic flashbacks was all. Traumatic flashbacks to the time when most of the people in this room had been under the age of ten thanks to an evil Jutsu! "Thank you for asking though, Lady Hinata." After all, one had to address the Kazekage's wife with a certain amount of respect.

Tsunade blinks as she sees a red headed girl playing with a very familiar Teddy Bear. "Is that Mr. Squishy?" Gods and Goddesses, how was that thing still in one piece.

Gaara nods proudly. "Yes, that's Mr. Squishy." He smirks at that surprise.

"I still can't believe you actually named your teddy bear." Hidan rolls his eyes.

The Kazekage raises an eyebrow and wraps a giant hand made of sand around Hidan. "What was that?" Did he want Sand Coffined?

"Gaara! Put him down or else I won't wear the French Maid outfit for you later!" Hinata warns him.

Upon hearing that, Gaara promptly releases Hidan. There was no way he was missing out on the sight of Hinata wearing THAT! He had a thing for lace. So sue him.

"The Kazekage almost killed someone because of his childhood teddy bear being insulted and his wife just kept him in line by threatening his martial privileges." Tsunade shakes her head in disbelief. "Man, do I need a drink."

"Don't worry, Lady Tsunade." Kakashi smiles at her. "As you know, that's just a normal day at our Ninja Day Care." Alright, make that TWO drinks!


End file.
